Pokémon Platinum: The Rise of a Master
by Predator216
Summary: The loss to Gary had a more profound effect on Ash. He realized his mistakes and rectifies them. Now, no more starting over. No more forgetting the trials that he went through with his Pokémon. This time, as he ventures into the continent of Sinnoh, he will show everyone the full might of his Pokémon. Beware Sinnoh, for this time Ash Ketchum is here to win.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Pokémon. A word that is known throughout the globe by people of almost all ages. The anime that has been running for more than a decade, and has shown no signs of ending. Yet, it is also the anime that most people eventually gotten fed up with. People craved for Ash Ketchum to grow up, to capture more Pokémon, to win leagues. Yet, it seemed that to Satoshi Tajiri, that none of this mattered.**

 **And so, people started writing fanfics about it. Even then, the number of good stories for this fan favorite anime is in just a few dozen.**

 **So, here is my interpretation of the Pokémon anime, the way I want it. This fic starts after the end of Battle Frontier and shall contain Ash's journey to the regions across. This fic will be a part of a series, each story depicting one specific region. I have taken inspiration from works such as Sinnoh Revamped by Analon and Working Sinnoh with Skill by 0Jordinio0. Unfortunately, despite being a brilliant fic, 0Jordiono0 deleted it. So, if any of you missed you, let me tell you it was one hell of a fic.**

 **In this fic, I have tried to answer the question as to how Ash aims to become a** **Pokémon Master and why he takes part in the various competitions.**

 **I'm keeping the rating M because of swearing, eventual romantic situations, as I sure as hell don't want to show Ash as an impotent, and maybe, maybe lemons.**

 **Pairings have been decided, and no it is not Ash/Dawn. If anyone doesn't like that, they don't have to read the fic.**

 **As with my Naruto fic, I will update this fic on a biweekly basis i.e once every two weeks. I lack a beta, so if anyone wishes to help me in that sense is encouraged to PM me.**

 **Finally, let's start with the fic. But first...**

 **Disclaimer:** **Pokémon is the property of Satoshi Tajiri and GameFreak, and I hold no control over them whatsoever.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: A New Path**

He couldn't believe it.

A multitude of emotions ran through his mind. Anger at being defeated, disappointment at the fact that it had been so easy for his opponent. However, the most prominent one on his face was that one of shock.

Ash Ketchum didn't pay attention as his opponent, Gary Oak, grandson of the renowned Pokémon Professor, Samuel Oak, and a brilliant researcher in his own right, recalled his Electivire into its Pokéball and started walking towards the center of the small clearing that they had chosen as their makeshift battlefield

The shock quickly turned into self-procrastination as various thoughts churned within his mind.

'How did he defeat me so easily?' The young trainer thought. 'He defeated Pikachu as though he was nothing. Wasn't Pikachu strong enough?' He immediately discarded this thought with an internal scoff. 'Of course he is. He defeated Brandon's Regice just a week ago. This means he is a strong Pokémon. So why was he defeated so easily.'

His thoughts were answered from the all too familiar voice of his childhood rival turned friend, "You were overconfident Ash."

The suddenness of the voice made him jump abruptly, as he finally noticed Gary standing in front of him, his hands cradling his injured Pikachu. He was all the more shocked to see that instead of the infuriating smirk that he thought would see on his face, it had an expression of complete seriousness that he hadn't ever seen on his rival before.

The shock quickly receded, as he gingerly took Pikachu from him, followed by a super potion that Gary handed to him. He sprayed the potion almost mechanically on the Pokémon, grimacing as the small mouse Pokémon hissed before the potion started having its effect and healing the more severe wounds marring its body.

As the expression on the asleep Pokémon's face changed from a grimace to a more peaceful one, Gary's words registered the youngest Battle Frontier winner.

"What do you mean by that Gary?" he spoke, an undertone of anger evident in his voice.

Gary, having noticed this, decided to not pay any attention to it. "You heard what I said Ketchum. I said you were overconfident. You thought that just because Pikachu had defeated a Legendary a week ago, he could take on any other Pokémon easily. When I released Electivire you had shown some apprehension at seeing a new Pokémon, yet as soon as the battle began, you completely disregarded everything and started using attacks in the hope of simply overpowering me."

"You got flustered when your attacks were not causing Electivire any harm and soon abandoned any form of plan you may have had and started calling out your powerful moves hoping that they would hit."

Ash looked towards Gary, anger evident in his face, to reply to his speculations. But the seriousness on the young Researcher's face simply made him keep quiet. Gary placed his bag on the ground and sat down on the ground, his elbows supporting his upper body and motioned for Ash to do the same. Not hesitating, Ash sat in a similar manner, with Pikachu on his lap, sleeping soundly.

"You know Ash," Gary continued, "Ever since you defeated me in Johto, I knew that you were a better trainer than I could ever be. I have even followed your battles ever since then."

Seeing the questioning and perplexed look on his face, Gary elaborated, "As your sponsor, Gramps has the option to get videos of your official gym matches or any League battles from the League. I had asked him to simply send me those whenever possible. Even your mom gets them from him."

"You mean Mom has watched every one of my matches?" Ash asked, astonished at the fact.

"Only the official gym matches, the tournaments and the entire Battle Frontier, since they are League sanctioned."

Ash nodded his head, indicating Gary to continue.

"You see, every battle that I have seen you fight, either win or lose, I have noticed a few things. In fact even Gramps noticed them. When I asked him why he didn't point it out to you, he simply answered that while he is your sponsor, he doesn't want you to be over-reliant on others. He wanted to see those flaws for yourself and fix those weaknesses yourself. He wants you to grow into the kind of trainer all of us in this town know you can be."

Ash, who was still not over the fact that his rival and his mother had seen every one of his official battles, was overwhelmed by the words if his friend.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, the undercurrent of anger still not abated completely.

Gary sighed at the childlike behavior of his friend. "Ash…" he began, the slight annoyance not missed by the black haired trainer, "When someone is trying to give you some advice, you must first listen to that person before flying off the handle. Most of the times it is for your own good."

The remaining anger quickly receded from Ash's face, as he scratched his cheek somewhat sheepishly, and muttered a quick "sorry!"

Seeing that his friend had calmed down, Gary spoke once again, "Gramps was okay with you finding your weaknesses yourself, however I do not think that is right for you. We both know you have the capability to achieve much more than the top eight of the tournaments and therefore I told him what I was going to do today."

"You mean Professor Oak knows about this battle?" Ash asked, perplexed.

"Yes" Gary nodded, "and while he thinks it unwise, he fully supports me. However, he warned me that this is the last time I can directly help you."

Seeing him nod at this he continued, "Now, what I am about to say may be somewhat hurtful to you Ash. You may even get furious at me because of that. But I want to get past that anger and think what I say. You must understand that everyone wants you to be the best Pokémon trainer and accomplish your dream, just like you helped me find mine."

Ash nodded, "I'll listen to what you have to say Gary, don't worry."

"Good." Gary said, before getting up and changing to a cross-legged sitting position, prompting Ash to do the same. "The biggest problem that we, Gramps and I, have seen is that you get overconfident too easily. Every new region you go, you straight out challenge the gym in whichever city you visit. You don't research the leader, his preferred Pokémon or even which type Pokémon they use. Moreover, when you defeat a few gyms in a row, you start thinking yourself undefeatable. It is only when you lose a battle that you give serious consideration to what you should have done and what you need to defeat the person."

Ash simply nodded, knowing most of this to be true.

"The same thing happens to you in the tournaments. In Johto, when you defeated me you, you became overconfident there. I don't know if you know or not, but the League shows other trainers the list of Pokémon another trainer has used throughout the tournament. Had you used that to at least get an anticipation of the Pokémon your opponent had, you could have won the Conference."

Ash, as though struck by the words could only gape at Gary, who looked like he was on a steamroll. "The same thing happened in Hoenn. Had you checked Tyson's Pokémon, you could have prepared beforehand that match. And that was one Tournament that you would have won had you defeated him."

The young Pokémon Researcher took a deep breath and looked at Ash, who seemed to be in deep thought. And indeed, Ash was thinking back to all the instances that he had lost an official match. The various gym leaders and trainers who had defeated him. What felt like hours to him, but was in fact just a few seconds later, he truly saw the truth in Gary's words. He realized how, he was more successful whenever he planned for an opponent rather than when he simply ran headlong into a match without any plan.

Gary, seeing that Ash was listening like he said he would, decided to continue. "Ash… how do you train your Pokémon?" he asked.

Seeing the confused expression on Ash's face, he elaborated, "I mean, how you train your Pokémon? What training regimen you use? When you decide to teach them a new move and all that?"

Seeing the thoughtful look on his friend's face, Gary sighed, wanting nothing more than to rub his temples in irritation. Not getting an answer, he took a deep breath. "Do you know that just to reach the level I was at, during the Silver Conference, I had to train my Pokémon almost on a daily basis, regularly teaching them new moves, increasing their move pool, upgrading their old moves with more powerful ones?"

"The few times that I have talked to Brock, he tells me how often you guys run into those three Team Rocket members and how most of the times it is Pikachu himself who gets rid of them. Don't you see how that is making him one of your most powerful Pokémon? Take your Charizard as well. Isn't he constantly training in the Chartcific Valley?" Getting a mute nod from the trainer, he continued, "So…Don't you see how much training on a daily basis benefits your Pokémon's strength?"

Seeing the affronted look on his face, Gary got confused for a moment before he realized how it looked to Ash. He sighed, "Ash… I'm not saying that the rest of your Pokémon are weak. What I'm saying is that if you train them, each of your Pokémon can reach the level at which you're Pikachu and Charizard are at, maybe even exceed that."

Looking towards the sky, he spoke, "You know, whenever I see you and your Pokémon, be it in the Ranch or in the battles, I can't help but feel jealous. The level of devotion and love that you and your Pokémon show towards each other is something that is seen only in the Elite Four and the Champions, even Gramps agrees on that."

Ash couldn't help but feel proud of that. He always cherished the bonds he had with his Pokémon. They were more important to him than anything in his life, bar his mom.

"Then why did you abandon them?"

Ash's thoughts were brought to a screeching halt as Gary spoke these words. He looked towards Gary, a look of fury marring his face. Gary, however, seemed unaffected by this and continued, "So why did you abandon them? Why not take them on your journey? Had they not done enough for you?"

"I wanted to have a new beginning in whatever region I went. They understood that." Ash grinded out.

"Of course they'd understand." Gary spoke slowly, as though talking to a baby. "They are your Pokémon. They are supposed to understand. But did you never feel how bad they must have felt when all the sweat and tears that they shed getting stronger for their trainer, suddenly went down the drain just because said trainer wanted a new beginning?"

"I have way more Pokémon than you, still I rotate them so that I can get in touch with most of them. Did you know that anyone who has accomplished as much as we have can get their maximum carrying capacity increased?"

Seeing his bewildered expression, Gary shook his head. "Of course you don't. You didn't even bother asking Gramps if it could be extended. Had you done so, he would've easily done that. You just decided to forget everything you learned on getting a "new beginning"."

"When was the last time you used Tauros, or you Kingler or even Muk? Most of your Pokémon train by themselves thinking that someday you'd use them and they don't want to disappoint you. So tell me this, why completely disregard all your other Pokémon and focus on your newest ones?"

Ash, despite his anger, processed what Gary had spoken. Soon, he couldn't help but feel guilty at how badly he had treated his Pokémon, almost abandoning them in the way Charizard was abandoned as a Charmander by his trainer. The thought of his Pokémon brought a sting of pain to Ash's troubled mind. He had neglected to train many of his older Pokémon for quite a while now. He hadn't used some of his Kanto Pokémon for years. Then there were the ones he caught from the other regions. He could have rotated his team like Gary said, but he didn't. Why? Did he unconsciously want to cut off all the links to the regions that presented him failure?

This thought very much upset Ash. He cared for his Pokémon, he really did. But he ignored many of them for a long time. How could he call himself a trainer? What did his old friends think of him now? Would they forgive him? Had they forgotten him, like he had forgotten to train them? Sure, he had spent some time with them after his return, but he didn't accomplish any serious training.

He was broken out of his thoughts by a hand being placed on his shoulder. He looked up to see his rival turned friend looking down at him.

"Ash, I know people say that becoming a Pokémon Master is next to impossible."

And truly, it was considered an impossibility by a majority of people across the regions. A trainer would have to win the tournaments of at least five regions, followed by defeating the Elite Four of each of those regions as well as the Regional Champion. And even then, you had to be sanctioned by the League chairman to get a Master's license. It was for this particular reason there hadn't been a Pokémon Master till date.

"- But I do know that if you try really hard and work with your Pokémon in a similar manner, then you can get there. You have the skill, the dedication and the love of your Pokémon, who are ready to go that extra mile just for you. Now, you only need to do what you should have done as a trainer and instead of having a new beginning, learn from your previous mistakes and rectify them."

By the end of the monologue, Pikachu had woken up from his exhaustion induced sleep. His first instinct, knowing his trainer, was to assure his how it wasn't his fault that he lost and that he shouldn't be depressed. This plan was derailed as soon as he heard his trainer's friend talk instead. He was initially confused what he was talking about, but somewhat understood what Gary was talking about.

Ash turned his attention to the now awake Pikachu, "Hey buddy. You awake? How are you feeling?"

"Pi Pika Chu." The small mouse Pokémon replied with a smile. The smile however was somewhat subdued as he thought of how easily he was defeated.

Ash immediately caught on to his starter's demeanor. "Don't be like that Pikachu. I should've known better than to get cocky after we beat Brandon. Look where that got us." Ash's eyes mirrored his sorrow. "I'm sorry you had to get hurt like that, Pikachu."

Pikachu shook his head emphatically, refusing to admit that the loss was his trainer's fault. "Pika pi! Pikachu pika pi pika!" Pikachu pointed to himself, as if to say that it was his fault, not Ash's.

"How can it be your fault?" Ash asked incredulously. "Don't be silly. You did your best, and that's all I could ask for. You trusted me with the strategy and did exactly like I told you to. But since I was so sure we'd win, I didn't think things through. I made some stupid mistakes. This loss is entirely my fault." Pikachu opened his mouth to protest again, but Ash cut him off. "I know you mean well Pikachu, but there's no way around it. Don't beat yourself up over this battle. I made the mistakes, not you." He said in a tone leaving no room for argument.

Pikachu made a face, clearly dissatisfied with his trainer's decision to blame himself. "Pii Pikachu." he muttered.

Ash shook his head at his Pokémon's stubbornness and rubbed the back of his head, gaining a 'Chaa' from his starter. He stood up, taking care to not cause any kind of pain to his starter. Gary watched the entire scene with an amused glint in his eyes.

"You know, this is what I was talking about." He said, indicating at them. "This, this is the thing that I was talking about earlier. Pikachu is sad not because he was defeated, but because you lost the match. And the level of care that you guys show for each other is something that decades to achieve."

Picking up his bag, Gary moved away from the duo, "Anyways, what was your plan for the future?"

Ash looked at Pikachu, who had by now taken his customary place at his shoulder, before shrugging, "I don't know really. I hadn't decided actually. Seeing your Electivire, I think I will go to Sinnoh next and compete in the tournament."

"Then I think I'm going to give you one final suggestion." Seeing that he had the trainer and Pokémon's attention, he continued, "The Conference for Sinnoh begins in four months. And while I know that you can qualify for it, it will be extremely tough. Moreover, you would be neither catch that many Pokémon, nor train them appropriately."

"Essentially, what I'm saying is that use these four months to train your existing Pokémon as much as you can. Learn as much as you can about Pokémon, and still continue learning after that. Gramps told me how you were over-relying on Brock all this time for Pokémon knowledge. But he won't always be there for you. Eventually, you will have to learn to rely on yourself."

"Thanks Gary." Ash spoke with conviction. "Do you think that on the way you could tell Professor to inform mom that I'll be out for a while?" Seeing his rival's questioning gaze, he elaborated, "I need to take some time to think over what you said."

Gary shook his head in exasperation. "All right, Ashy boy." He spoke with an all too familiar smirk, "I'll inform Gramps, but don't take too much time. Smell ya later."

Ash couldn't help but smile at familiar tone of his friend. Truth be told, the tone he was using during the entire conversation had been creeping him out a bit.

"See you later, Gary."

"Pi pika pi."

Both of them waved Gary off before turning towards each other.

"You know buddy" Ash began, "I really need to think about what Gary told me." Seeing his friend's questioning look, he spoke further. "You were asleep at that time. By the way, how are you feeling? You alright?"

"Pi Pika Pi." Pikachu shrugged, the worst of the injuries having already been healed with the super potion, while his sleep healed the remaining injuries.

"Good to hear that bud." Ash spoke, relief evident in his voice. As he moved into the forest, he spoke, "Gary told me about my mistakes and it made me truly realize that I have been truly winging it all this while. I have been way too dependent on others and apart from battling I have very limited knowledge about you guys."

His expression became more pensive as he thought about his Pokémon. "Moreover, I basically abandoned most of you guys."

"Pika?" the mouse Pokémon shouted, perplexed at the last comment.

"It's true bud." He spoke, with a somewhat pained expression. "I never trained you guys personally unless it was absolutely necessary. I didn't pay attention to many of you guys unless I required your help. Every time I go to a new region, I never bring anyone but you, I don't even tell the others that I am going to use them in a fight or not. They train so much, just for me, and I never even pay attention to them."

Pikachu, stumped at his trainer's words, could do nothing but sit on his shoulder and hear his trainer berate himself. Frankly, Pikachu had been wondering when Ash would come to this realization. He knew that Ash wasn't purposefully neglecting them. He never brought this up because he trusted Ash to realize it sooner or later. He didn't want to give Ash the impression that he was being reprimanded by his own Pokémon.

However, that didn't mean that he was going to let his trainer wallow in self-pity. So, he did the only thing he could.

The good old Thundershock.

Ash was thrown out of his musings, courtesy of a minor Thundershock from Pikachu. He stood there twitching for a few moments before his body functions returned back to normal, having grown accustomed to Pikachu's electric shocks. He turned his attention towards his companion.

"Thanks for that bud. I know I can't start wallowing in self-pity. I just can't help but feel bad that I was so bad to our other friends. Anyhow, I now know I have done many things wrong so far and the only thing now I can do is rectify them."

Pikachu nodded, happy that his human had finally started to show the determination that he had always shown and not started acting like and emo. It even sparked determination in the mouse Pokémon, something which was not present ever since the morning.

Ash continued, his voice laden with determination, "For the next four months, I will do everything I can to make up to you guys. And then, together, we will conquer Sinnoh and the Championship."

"Pi Pika Pi." Pikachu added, an equal amount of determination on his face.

They stood there, facing each other, poses matching, with the resolve to conquer the Sinnoh league, nothing stopping them. However, nature seemed to be against them, as out of nowhere the heavens erupted, bringing with them a downpour of rain that drenched them within moments.

Ash immediately scooped up Pikachu and ran further into the forest, intent on finding a safe haven from the rain. They ran for the next several minutes, hope slowly diminishing, before they reached the face of a cliff. On Ash's shoulder, Pikachu's ears twitched as he looked in a certain direction. His eyes twinkled in happiness, apparently at having found something. He quickly jumped from his trainer's shoulder, gaining an exclamation of 'HEY' from the fully soaked trainer.

As soon as Pikachu jumped from his shoulder, Ash followed him knowing that there had to be an explanation for the sudden action of his Pokémon. He moved towards the cliff, and only then did he notice what his friend was running towards. The cliff had some kind of plant on it, the long leaves of which covered almost half of its face. However, his attention went towards the ground where Pikachu suddenly disappeared into the think foliage.

A look of understanding came upon Ash's face as he realized that his friend had found a place to weather this sudden rainstorm. However, as he moved towards the most likely cave, this turned into one of dread as Pikachu darted out of the foliage, a look of panic on his face. He tugged at Ash's pants, pointing towards the cave.

"What happened bud? Is someone in there?" Ash asked, concern marring his voice.

"Pi Pikachu. Pi pika pi." Pikachu nodded, and ran back into the foliage.

Ash, knowing that his starter wanted to follow him, went after him. As he reached the cliff, he pushed some of the bushes aside, and was not surprised to find a crevice. What surprised him, though, was the size of it. It was small, its width just enough for his lithe body to enter it. And even that was going to be a tight squeeze.

As he squeezed his way into the crevice, he heard the panicked voice of Pikachu, making him focus even more in helping whosoever was hidden in the most likely cave. After what felt like hours of squeezing, but was in fact just several seconds, he finally emerged from the crevice, the sudden darkness taking him by surprise.

His eyesight quickly got accustomed to the darkness, the small amount of light coming from the crevice helping him. He quickly in the direction where he heard Pikachu's voice come from, only to see him desperately trying to shake a figure.

"Pikachu?" he asked, gaining the attention of the Pokémon. "Who is there bud?" He moved forward to see who the person or Pokémon was, but stopped short as Pikachu moved aside, some amount of light deciding to filter into the cave at that exact moment, making the figure clear to his eyes.

And what, or rather who, he saw turned his eyes wide with disbelief and astonishment. Lying on the ground, most probably asleep, was a Pokémon.

It was a blue qilin-like creature, with white diamond-shaped spots and a white underside. It had a purple cape that resembled flowing river and two white streamer-like tails. It also had a hexagonal, aquamarine-colored crest on its forehead, a protrusion on the underside of its chin and small paws, the paws having a small white oval on their undersides.

Ash remembered the Pokémon. How could he not? After all, this was the first Pokémon that he had encountered when he had entered the Johto region. He remembered how he had been mesmerized when he had first seen the Legendary, standing in the middle of the lake. Of course he would remember…

"Suicune."

Ash spoke the name in reverence, knowing that being a Legendary it almost commanded respect. His awe immediately vanished when he saw Pikachu pointing at the resting Pokémon.

"Pika pi! Pikachu chu pika pi pika." The panicked voice made alarm bells ring in Ash's head, as he quickly made his way towards the sleeping Pokémon. He was all the more surprised to see that the downed Pokémon didn't make any movement at his approach.

The pit in his stomach deepened when he reached close enough to see the state the Pokémon was in. It's usually blue hide was marred with several burns, similar to those caused by Pikachu's attacks, making it clear that it was harmed by several electric attacks. Further, it was huffing very quickly, indicating that it was almost out of energy.

Ash didn't know what could have caused Suicune such harm, having already seen the Legendary in action, already knowing the strength of the water Legend. It didn't matter to him though. A Pokémon was hurt and he'd be damned if he didn't help it.

As he made to sit down beside the downed Pokémon, Pikachu jumped on his shoulder, as though giving his place to his trainer.

"CHAA!" Pikachu cooed in happiness, as Ash rubbed the Pokémon under his chin.

"Great job Pikachu." He spoke, "You did a good job finding Suicune. Do you know how she got so injured?"

Pikachu shrugged, not knowing the answer to the one question that perplexed even him.

Getting his answer, Ash turned his attention back to the Legendary to check for any further injuries and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw none visible. He then cursed at the fact that he had forgotten to bring his pack or any kind of potion.

He went to pet the Legend, but stopped when suddenly it opened its eyes, its red irises boring into his amber colored ones. Suicune growled, though Ash assumed it was due to its close proximity from the trainer. Ash quickly got up and took a couple of steps back, arms extended in a placating manner.

Suicune tried to get up and away from the unknown trainer, but failed and cried out in pain as it collapsed. However, it still glared at Ash, almost as if challenging him to do something.

"Suicune, I know you are injured and don't want to trust a trainer. But I promise you that I mean you no harm." He spoke, Pikachu nodding his head. "You remember me, don't you? I met you a few years ago in the Johto region. We even helped you fight those idiots from Team Rocket."

"Pi Pika Pi Pikachu." Pikachu added, trying to get the legend to remember the incident.

The growl from Suicune lessened a bit as it focused on the Pokémon trainer, as though scrutinizing him. A few seconds later, its eyes widened for a second, most likely in recognition, before it sighed in relief and collapsed completely, its eyes replaced with swirls, signifying that it had fainted.

"SUICUNE! / PIKA PI!"

Ash and Pikachu shouted as soon as they saw the Pokémon faint, and quickly ran towards it. Ash, having seen it cry out in pain when it favored a foot, understood that it had somehow hurt its feet.

"Bud." He spoke, getting Pikachu's attention, "Did you see what I see?"

Pikachu looked a bit confused, so Ash decided to explain, "When it favored a feet, it cried out in pain. It means it most probably has hurt its legs. And there is no way I can heal it by myself. So, the only thing we can do right now is wait for it to wake up so we can take it to Professor Oak's to heal it."

"Besides, with the rain, it seems that we are going to stay here for a while." He continued, before he made way behind the asleep Pokémon and leaned against the wall of the cave. He gingerly took the head of the sleeping Pokémon and placed it on his lap, the heavy head not affecting him that much. Running his hands through the Pokémon's head, he gained a soft mewl from it, making both Ash and Pikachu realize that the injured Pokémon had started healing from its injuries.

A soft smile came upon Ash's face, one that was returned by his starter. "You know bud, it's nice that Suicune is here." As he closed his eyes and leaned towards the wall, he continued, "the last time we saw it when we started our Johto journey. And now that we have seen it once again, it is when I have decided to give my journey another beginning. I can't help but feel that it is somehow a good sign."

Pikachu nodded, before yawning loudly, and nuzzled into his partner's side, letting sleep take him into its warm embrace. Ash smiled, before he too let sleep take over him. However, before he fell asleep, another thought ran through his mind.

'Yes, a new beginning. But this time with the help of all my friends. And family.'

XXXXXXXXX

The shaking of his body brought the young trainer from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and extended his arms, and was surprised to find his neck and back quite sore. As he opened his eyes, it took him a few moments to get used to the darkness. Feeling an unknown weight on his lap, he looked down, only for his eyes to widen when he saw Suicune's red irises boring into his amber colored ones.

As a whole, the memory of the entire day and the incidents came back to him. Unbidden, a smile came to his face, as one hand started stroking the Legend while his other went to his starter's head, getting a loud 'CHAA' from the Pokémon.

His ministrations seemed to have a good effect on the Aurora Pokémon, as it leaned into his hand. He gave the Pokémon a once over and was delighted to see that most of the electric burns had been healed. However, he was still unsure about the damage that its leg had received.

"Hey Suicune…" he began, getting the Pokémon's attention, "You feeling alright?" Getting a nod in reply, he continued, "I saw that you had an injury in your leg. Is that all right?"

In reply, Suicune tried to get up, but cried out in pain and collapsed as soon as put some pressure on its leg. Before it could fall down however, the trainer quickly caught his head, breaking the fall. He placed the head on his lap, and once again began his ministrations.

'Suicune's leg is injured quite badly if it hasn't healed yet.' He thought, 'I still can't understand how it got injured so badly?' He looked at the Pokémon and smiled when he saw it conversing with Pikachu. 'I cannot simply leave it here. It needs to be healed properly. I would have carried it had it not been so heavy, and it's clear that it cannot walk. As it is, I only see one possible option and I don't think that it's going to like that.'

He cleared his throat, catching the attention of both the Pokémon. "Suicune…" he began, "how did your leg get so injured? I know there are very few Pokémon who are capable of doing that."

Immediately, the Pokémon's demeanor darkened a bit. It spoke in a low growl, and by the expression on Pikachu's face was, it was evident that the answer wasn't good.

Pikachu himself started growling in fury as Suicune described what had happened to it. Pikachu, knowing that his trainer was unable to understand what the Pokémon were talking about, translated as much as possible. Not surprisingly, Ash understood most of what Pikachu was speaking, surprising the Legend as it didn't know any human who was capable of understanding Pokéspeech.

Meanwhile, Ash was infuriated. Pikachu had explained what Suicune had told him, and the trainer was seething on the inside. Apparently, a poacher had caught Suicune in a trap that had most probably broken his ankle. He had further electrified the Legend to such an extent that he was barely able to stand up. Some of the local Pokémon however had helped in creating a distraction long enough for the Legendary to escape. And somehow gathering the rest of its energy, Suicune had caused the rain and hidden itself in the cave.

"Pika pi?" Pikachu asked his trainer, knowing that he despised poachers, having had to deal with the pesky Team Rocket trio for the last nearly six years.

"Don't worry bud." Ash spoke, as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "I just cannot believe how despicable some people can be." He then turned towards Suicune. "I would really like to apologize for the mistreatments you had to suffer because of my race Suicune."

The sudden apology caught the Pokémon caught the Pokémon off guard, before it nuzzled into the trainer's face, licking it all the while. Ash pet the Pokémon once more before continuing, "Suicune, if your ankle really is injured then we need to get you healed properly. Now, I know you won't like what I'm about to suggest, but could you please hear me out?"

Curious, as to what the black haired trainer wanted, Suicune nodded, giving Ash the go to continue.

"There is a Pokémon Professor living nearby, going by the name of Samuel Oak. He is one of the leading authorities on Pokémon across the regions and has one of the best facilities in Kanto. I know you don't want to show yourself to humans, but could you please give him a chance? He is the best person that can heal you properly."

Suicune seemed to ponder the question. On the one hand, it would have to show itself to a human. On the other, it knew that the broken ankle was something that wouldn't heal by itself. It then looked towards Ash and made up its mind. Besides, having already met the trainer, it knew that if the young man trusted someone so much, he must be someone special.

It gave a nod, getting a sigh of relief from Ash.

'One step down.' The trainer thought. 'Only one more to go.'

"Thanks Suicune." He spoke, before a frown marred his face. "We have another problem Suicune." Seeing that he had the undivided attention of both Suicune and Pikachu, he continued, "Right now I can see that you are barely able to stand, let alone walk. Moreover, you are somewhat on the heavier side-" Hearing a growl, he stopped mid-sentence and was surprised to find the Pokémon glaring at him, almost challenging him to complete the sentence.

Having already dealt with situations, like that courtesy of an irate Misty and May, he saw the female fury burning deep within the Pokémon. In that moment, whatever doubts he had regarding the Pokémon's vanished in a puff of smoke. Understanding what he had said wrong, he altered his sentence.

"Because you are well built, I cannot carry you over to the Ranch. Besides, if the poacher is still out, he may see us travelling. So, the only think that I can do right now is…" here he took a deep breath before continuing, "to capture you."

Both Pikachu and Suicune stood there, laid there in the case of the Legend, before what Ash had spoken registered in the mind of Suicune and she growled. Loud.

Ash quickly started petting her, trying to diffuse the Pokémon's anger. "Please listed to me Suicune." He almost begged. "Right now this is the only viable option. I promise you that as soon as you are completely healed, I will release you so that you can be on your way. I swear that it is not my intention to capture you. But I only want to see you completely healed."

"Please think. Had I wanted to capture you, I could have done that while you were asleep and there was nothing you could have done. What I am asking of you right now to trust me. I promise, as soon as you are completely healed I will release you."

Suicune's growl subsided as it thought over what Ash had said. She realized that what he said was indeed true as it gave them a huge chance of reaching the facility undetected. And having met the trainer before, she knew that he was a good person. One who would think about his Pokémon's wellbeing before his own. Finally, making up her mind, she took a deep breath before nodding.

Ash brightened in delight at getting the Legend's approval, a sentiment which was shared by Pikachu, who gave a loud shout of "PIKA". Ash quickly unplugged a spare Pokéball from his magnetized belt before enlarging it. Suicune stiffened a bit, prompting Ash to resume the petting her, getting the Pokémon to relax once again in his lap.

"Don't worry Suicune" Ash spoke in a comforting voice, "I swear on my life, that as soon as you are healed I will let you go." As silence ensued in the cave, Ash noticed something else. And if twitching of Pikachu's ears were evident enough, he too had finally noticed it.

Ash smiled and turned towards Pikachu, who himself had a smile on his face. "Finally some good news, isn't there bud?"

"Pikachu." The mouse Pokémon nodded.

Suicune looked at Ash, who focused his attention back on the injured Pokémon. Seeing her somewhat confused expression, he elaborated, "Oh nothing Suicune. I was just telling Pikachu how it seems the rain has subsided. So, we can finally head back to the town. You ready to go?"

Suicune looked conflicted for a moment, before giving a firm nod and touching the center of the already enlarged Pokéball, resulting in getting sucked into the ball in a red beam of light. The Pokéball immediately dinged, indicating a successful capture. This surprised Ash as he had thought that there would some struggle due to the fact that Suicune was apprehensive of getting caught.

"I guess she trusts me a lot to let herself be captured so easily." Ash muttered, before once again turning towards his oldest partner, "Anyways, no need to waste any time. I promised that I would get her healed, and we don't back on our word, do we bud?"

"Pikachu", the rodent Pokémon replied with a shake of his head.

Ash got up, working out the kinks in his body by flexing a bit, before he turned towards the small crevice that brought him into this cave.

"Let's go Pikachu. We need to get Suicune healed and also inform Professor Oak that there might be a Pokémon poacher in this area."

Pikachu jumped and took his customary position as the pair headed out of the cave. Once again, squeezing through the tight crevice, Ash slowly made his way outside. Not a few moments later, he finally took a deep breath as he finally exited the tight crevice.

Both trainer and Pokémon smiled as they saw the scene before them. The black clouds had almost parted, letting sunlight fall from between them, giving the trees and plants surrounding them and unearthly glow. A rainbow had formed across the sky giving it an even more beautiful look.

Ash took a step back towards Pallet Town, however a loud caw, from high above in the sky, caught his and Pikachu's attention. Both looked up and were shocked beyond belief with what they saw. Flying high in the sky was a Pokémon. It was a large bird with a bright red plumage, green-tipped wings and a white underbelly. However, the thing that caught their eyes the most was the tail feathers which, seemed to reflect light in such a way that made it seem as though a rainbow was being emitted from it.

Both of them recognized the Pokémon. It was the first Legendary that they had ever seen. It had appeared whenever they were in a quandary, and seemed to guide them through tough times. Ash and Pikachu's smile widened as they saw Ho-Oh fly over them, as though guiding them once again.

"You know bud…" Ash finally spoke as the figure of Ho-Oh went past the horizon, "I think this was Ho-Oh's way of telling us that what we have decided is right."

"Pikachu." The mouse Pokémon, whose attention was still on the horizon, nodded in reply.

Taking a deep whiff, as the aroma of the forest entered his nostrils, he motioned for Pikachu, who didn't waste a moment before jumping on his partner's shoulder. Taking one look at the near setting sun, he made his way towards Pallet Town, knowing that it was going to be a somewhat long trek.

"Pikachu, keep your eyes and ears open for any human movement, would you? I don't want to encounter the poacher right now before informing Professor Oak about him." He stopped to look at the sun setting in the horizon, "Though there is a good chance that he is not here anymore. Otherwise, he'd have seen Ho-Oh fly overhead. Still, can't help but be careful."

"Pi Pika Pi." Pikachu nodded, agreeing with his trainer on that front.

After half an hour of walk, they reached the outskirts of the town and Ash started walking a little bit faster in the direction of Professor Oak's Laboratory. He had wanted to go meet his mom as well, but right now the well-being of the Legendary was on the front of his mind. Eventually, he saw the familiar windmill, sitting atop the hill that was the starting point of his journey all those years ago.

His pace increased to a near run, as he reached the facility and sprinted up the steps. Ringing the doorbell, he waited for someone, most probably Tracy, to open the door. He was therefore completely shocked to find the visage of Professor Samuel Oak at the door.

Not much had changed in terms of his look through all these years. He still wore the similar khaki cargo pants, with plain colored t-shirts and a large white lab-coat that Ash from his travels knew were almost a trademark for Professors across the regions. Except for the increase in a few number of grey hairs, nothing much had changed in his outward appearance.

Back at the entrance, Oak grabbed Ash by the hem of his collar and quickly pulled him inside, surprising the trainer with the strength in the old man. Pikachu squawked at such sudden force and jumped off his trainer to keep himself from falling. Professor Oak immediately closed the door and locked it, before turning towards Ash with a giddy look on his face.

Ash unconsciously took a step back, along with Pikachu, when he saw the look on the Professor's face.

It was the face of a child.

A child who had been locked in a candy store.

Pikachu and Ash looked at the Professor warily for a few minutes, though to them it felt like hours, before the Professor finally seemed to have lost his cool.

"Well, come on. Aren't you going to show me?" Oak almost shouted in delight.

Both trainer and Pokémon took another step back.

"Um…show you what Professor?" Ash squeaked.

The Pokémon Professor gave the trainer an annoyed look. "Ash, did you forget that I oversee your Pokémon database? And that I get an alert whenever you catch a new Pokémon?"

Realization dawned upon the duo as they understood what, or rather who, the Professor was talking about. They immediately sagged in relief, before looking at the Professor imperiously.

"Professor, do you think we could sit down before I show her to you? You need to first listen what happened with us." Ash spoke seriously.

The look on both Pikachu's and Ash's face showed how serious the matter was. He motioned them to his living room, where he sat on the recliner while Ash took the sofa, Pikachu sitting by his side.

Ash then recounted the events of the entire day, beginning from his defeat at the hands of Gary.

Throughout the dialogue, Oak had a stoic look on his face, though a myriad of emotions ran through his mind. He was annoyed, yet proud, that his grandson had shown Pallet's resident trainer a path that he knew would one day take him to greatness. However, it soon changed to awe when he heard how the boy had encountered another Legendary. The boy was either blessed or cursed to have met so many Legendries throughout his journey. And it hadn't even been six years since he had given the young trainer his Pikachu.

The awe turned to anger when Ash described the state of the Pokémon and how it had reached that state. He stopped Ash in between his accounting.

"Are you telling me that Suicune's ankle is fractured?" he asked.

Ash nodded solemnly, "Most probably. She tried getting up a few times but failed. Any other kind of injury should have healed by that time."

Professor Oak immediately got up and started moving towards the healing area of the facility, Ash and Pikachu behind him. Ash continued recounting the events, and by the time they had reached the room, Ash had finished retelling everything.

Oak ushered Ash and Pikachu into the room. "Ash," he spoke, catching the trainer's attention, "I am going to place a call to Officer Jenny and tell her to be on the lookout for a poacher. Meanwhile, could you get Suicune out on the examination table? It would be better if you get her accustomed to the new environment before I start healing her."

"All right-" he hadn't even finished the reply before Oak left the room in a hurry. "Professor."

Ash turned towards Pikachu, "Professor really was angry at finding out that a poacher was so close to his facility."

Pikachu nodded, his eyes fixed on the door which the Professor had just used.

"Anyways," Ash continued, "its time I get Suicune out."

He gently brought forth the Pokéball containing Suicune and tossed it into the air, something which Pikachu noticed seemed way cooler than his usual dramatic shout. He immediately decided to talk to his trainer about it, though that would have to wait.

The Pokéball opened and the silhouette of Suicune formed on the examination table, the Pokémon appearing moments later. She had a guarded expression on her face as she noticed the unknown surroundings, before her gaze fell on Ash and Pikachu. Both trainer and Pokémon could see her visibly breathe out a sigh of relief. However, she immediately tensed when the unfamiliar to her voice of Professor Oak came from outside the room.

"Ash, I have informed Officer Jenny to be on the lookout for any poacher." He spoke out loud as he entered the room, only to stop short when he saw the Pokémon seated on the table.

Suicune growled as the new human entered the room, its distrust of humans coming forward. She would have blasted the person across the room with one of hers attacks had Ash not stepped in front of him.

"Suicune, please calm down." He pleaded. "He is the Professor I was talking about. He will help you heal properly."

"Pi Pika Pi Pikachu Chu Pika." Pikachu pleaded alongside his trainer.

Suicune mellowed down a bit, letting the Pokémon Professor approach her, alongside Ash and Pikachu. As Ash petted the Pokémon's back, Oak couldn't help but be awestruck by her.

"You truly are a magnificent Pokémon, Suicune." Oak spoke on reverence. "I would like to thank you for trusting Ash enough to let him capture you. I will see to it that you are properly healed. And I have already seen to it that the person who did this to you is properly punished for committing such a heinous act."

Suicune, courtesy of Ash's petting and Oak's words, nodded in acknowledgement. She really was starting to like these humans. Oh she had heard about the younger ones from many of her counterparts. They had told her about the times he had helped them in one way or another. This second human was also starting to get in her good books. She wouldn't completely trust him like she had done with Ash, but she was ready to give him a chance at least.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the Professor began to speak, "All right Ash, I will have to ask you to wait outside while I treat Suicune." Seeing that the young teenager was somewhat apprehensive of leaving the Pokémon alone, he immediately added, "It's not that I don't want you to be in here Ash, but you know that treating Pokémon is a difficult process. And I can't do it with you breathing down my neck. Besides, if you want Pikachu can stay in here with us."

Liking the idea of having at least one face that she trusted near her, Ash turned towards Suicune. "Hey girl," he began softly, "I am sorry I can't stay in here while Professor is treating you. But as he said, it will only hinder if I am here. Besides, Pikachu will stay by your side all the time."

Pikachu nodded his head vigorously, giving his assent to the idea.

"I will be just outside in the Corral, along with the rest of my Pokémon. As soon as Professor will be done with your treatment, I will come and meet you. Is that okay with you?"

Suicune simple nodded in reply, before fixedly staring at the Pokémon Professor.

Understanding that Suicune wanted him to begin the procedure, he ushered Ash out of the room. However, before he could close the door, Ash held his arms in a tight hold.

"Professor, look after her, will you?" He asked in a concerned tone, gaining a soft smile from the Professor.

"Don't worry Ash. I know how to properly treat a Pokémon. Besides, I would never harm her, you know that."

Ash nervously scratched his cheek with his index finger. "Ah! Sorry Professor." He apologized sheepishly, "Didn't want to doubt your skills. Anyways, after you are done with her could you look at Pikachu as well? I don't know if he healed properly after the match with Gary or not."

Oak simply nodded before closing the door, the red light atop the door lighting up, showing that the room was in use.

Ash sighed. He had fulfilled his promise to Suicune. Now, he just had to wait till she was completely healed and then he would let her go free, like she should be. He then focused back to the decision he had taken in the afternoon and decided his next course of action.

He quickly went towards the back of the lab and entered the Corral. It was a beautiful place, with moonlight shining on the green meadow, giving it an iridescent glow. There were a few wild Pokémon and Pokémon caught by other trainers who started from this part of Kanto, though most of them were either asleep or on the cusp of falling asleep.

He made his way further inwards, before finally reaching his destination and saw all the Pokémon he caught on his journey, either sleeping peacefully, playing, or, in some cases, training. He had unforgettable adventures and memories with all of them. Even Tauros, one of his underused Pokémon, had performed magnificently against Drake. The guilt once again racked up his mind as he thought about his mistake. He immediately crushed it, knowing that wallowing in self-guilt was not going to do anything for him.

' _It is time for me to rectify my mistakes.'_ "Hey guys! Over here! I'm here to tell you all something." He shouted, getting the attention of his Pokémon. Those who were awake recognized the voice, and nudged those asleep to get them to wake up.

Ash spotted a dust cloud, closer and closer it came and stopped in front of him. There they were. His friends, his life. Bulbasaur, Kingler, Muk, his 30 Tauros, Snorlax, Heracross, Bayleef, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Noctowl, Donphan, Swellow, Sceptile, Corphish, Torkoal, Aipom and Glalie.

"Guys-", a few shouts of protest "and gals," Ash sweatdropped.

"I have decided to visit another region named Sinnoh." Here, he could visibly see how a few of his Pokémon got sad, most probably due to the fact that he wouldn't spend time with them. He continued nevertheless, "But first I would like to apologize to all of you."

Seeing their confused expression, he took a deep breath and elaborated, "I want to apologize because I know that I haven't been the best trainer-" A massive protest came from the group making Ash smile at the support they showed him. "Thanks Guys, but it's true. It's my duty to train each of you and help you in getting stronger. We're partners, but I haven't been doing my part well. Can you guys forgive me?"

Ash's smile widened when the group collectively responded in a yes. He moved towards a tree nearby, and sat down, his Pokémon surrounding him in various ways. He gently petted Bulbasaur, who was sitting on his lap, while Bayleef huffed at not being the trainer's center of attention. "Thanks everyone. You don't know how much this means to me. Anyways, like I was saying I have decided to visit Sinnoh region next. But the fact is, that I only have four months to get all the required badges and enter the tournament."

"And while I'm confident that with you guys, I can do that easily, it will still be extremely hectic and any Pokémon that I do catch in the region will not be prepared to enter a tournament. Therefore I have decided that, for the next four months, I will stay here in Pallet and train with you guys. And when the time comes to go, I'll take as many of you as possible."

The group sat there, stunned at their trainer's words. However, that surprise soon turned to delight and they all decided to pounce on him in happiness. However, it seemed to be too much for the trainer, who tried desperately to get himself out of the pileup but failed in his endeavor. So, he simply decided to enjoy the feeling of acceptance.

After several minutes, the horde of Pokémon stepped back, quite a few of them with sheepish looks on their faces, letting Ash take breaths as though the air was his only life-sustenance. He yawned, as he felt blissful sleep slowly envelop him. His Pokémon, feeling his drowsiness, simply laid around him and let sleep overtake them.

One final thought ran through Ash's mind, as he laid there surrounded by his friends.

 _Look out, Sinnoh! Here I come!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Review shoutouts:**

 **draconic skysong: Thanks for the support. Hope you like the future chapters.**

 **LeoPK: I find that an interesting start is the key to any successful story, be it a fanfic or a normal one.**

 **sarmientojude: Again, thanks for the support.**

 **Reign of Sorrow: Thank you for showing the support. As for will Ash keep Suicune? You will have to read further to know the answer. As far as Ash is concerned, he will keep his promise.**

 **Yanoack: I will keep continuing this story until I see the end of this fic and the entire series that I have planned. Cynthia is one of my most favorite female Pokémon characters and I don't like it when either she is not used in a fic or is used but made younger.**

 **.Dawn: Thank you.**

 **MidnightFenrir: Thanks for the support.**

 **Darth Reantus: Hope that you like the future chapters.  
**

 **Author's Note: Wow! The support that I got for this fic was overwhelming. While many may think that 8 reviews, 49 favorites and 62 follows isn't anything great. For me, a novice writer, it is. I would like to thank everyone who has done so.**

 **Now, presenting before you the latest chapter for Pokemon Platinum:Rise of a Master. Hope you guys enjoy it. And please review it and recommend it to anyone should you find my work satisfactory.**

 **Disclaimer:** **Pokémon was, is and always be the property of Satoshi Tajiri. Until someone hires a ninja and decides to off him. In which case, I would say beforehand that it was not my idea.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2**

 **A Promise Fulfilled**

Dawn slowly made way for morning, the lightening of the sky heralding the beginning of another day in the quaint, humble Pallet town. The cawing of Fearow as the sun peeked over the horizon broke several local Pokémon out of their deep night of rest. Several Pidgey could be seen shaking off of their sleep, getting ready for a new day, while Caterpie and Weedle could be seen getting ready to gather as much pollen from the plants.

In Oak's Corral, an extremely heartwarming scene could be seen near one of the bigger trees. Surrounding the area were a diverse type of Pokémon, quite a few of them not native to the region of Kanto. Sleeping in between them, his back against his trusty Snorlax, was a black haired, fair skinned trainer.

The various Pokémon around him stirred, however the trainer somehow kept on sleeping, unaffected by the activity of his Pokémon. He was eventually woken out of his blissful sleep when the Sleeping Pokémon he was leaning against abruptly woke up and lumbered off, prompting the almost 16 year old to fall back into the ground.

"AHH!" the teen yelled as he shot back up, the sudden bout of pain now coursing through his head. "What the heck was that for?!" he exclaimed as he rapidly spun his head in various directions, seeing all his Pokémon even his trusted partner Pikachu, getting up and dashing off towards a familiar Pokémon Watcher who was bringing a cart of food. A comical look of disbelief marred his face as he looked at the utter betrayal of his Pokémon. He immediately followed the way his Pokémon were going, only to find his Pokémon along with a few others surrounding the cart containing Pokémon food. He could see the drool running down Snorlax's face.

Smiling at his Pokémon's antics, he made his way towards Tracy. "Morning, Tracy."

"Morning, Ash." The elder teen replied with a smile. "Quite a stir you created last night." He spoke while Ash grabbed some food and started feeding Bayleef, Aipom and a few of his Tauros, all of whom were basking in the attention their trainer. Tracy, still feeding the rest of the Pokémon, continued. "You should have seen the Professor. He looked like a chicken with its head cut off, running around the lab in panic and excitement." He chuckled at the memory that was going to be one of the highlights of his life, seeing someone like Samuel Oak in panic.

"Ah." Ash scratched his cheek with an index finger, "I didn't actually catch her. I just wanted her to get healed, and that was the only way we could come here without catching unwanted attention." Sudden concern came to his mind as he remembered the Pokémon, "Anyways, how is she? Did Professor heal him?"

Seeing the concern in the young trainer's eyes, Tracy couldn't help but smile. He had always thought that Ash, along with being a brilliant trainer, but foremost a great person. The fact that a Legendary had trusted the young man enough to let herself be captured further evidenced his belief.

"She is fine. Professor set her ankle and has placed a cast around it. Her inherent energy will complete the healing and she'll be all right in a week at most." Seeing the trainer take a sigh of relief, he continued, "She is asleep right now and will most likely be for a few more hours."

"Anyways, you decided what you going to do next?" the Pokémon watcher asked, getting Ash's attention. "Decided which region you are going to visit?"

Ash, still feeding his Pokémon, answered, "Yeah, I have decided to go to Sinnoh next. Gary told me that it is a good region with nice challenges and many kind of Pokémon I haven't seen." Tracy seemed satisfied with his answer, but was surprised when he continued, "But I have decided that since I still have four months before the new League year begins, I will stay here in Pallet and train the Pokémon like I should have. Ever since I have left for Johto, I have neglected them way too much and I want to make up to them."

Tracy stood there, stunned for a brief moment at Ash's admission, before he shook his head as the smile on his face widened. "You know Ash, it is finally good to see that you are finally taking your responsibilities as a trainer seriously. I can't wait to see how much your Pokémon progress now that you are here to guide them. Besides, I am sure that quite a few of them have various surprises for you as well."

Ash, having finished feeding his Pokémon, turned towards Tracy, a questioning look at his last comment. "What do you mean, Tracy?"

Tracy simply shook his finger, a gleeful look on his face, "Now that you are here, you will find out eventually. Besides, I don't want to ruin the surprise now."

Ash turned towards his Pokémon, hoping to find out what the Watcher was being mysterious about, but was prevented from speaking anything as a loud growl was heard by everyone in the vicinity. Everyone turned towards Ash, as the source of the voice rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oops." He laughed. "I guess seeing you guys eat has made me hungry as well." As if agreeing with him, his stomach gave another louder rumble.

As the Pokémon laughed, Tracy spoke, "I think you need food as well Ash." His countenance became somewhat apologetic as he continued, "I am sorry though. Breakfast isn't ready so early or I would have asked you to stay for it. Why don't you head home? Mrs. Ketchum may be awake right now? Besides she was rather worried when Professor talked to her, after he had treated Suicune and Pikachu."

"Ahhh...yeah," Ash replied nervously. "I probably should do that." He was a tad bit nervous about that confrontation. Delia Ketchum, although sweet and understanding, was quite overprotective of her son when she wanted to be, and would definitely get angry and yell at him (even if only for a little while) in regards to some of his more...worrying and dangerous activities.

Shaking his head to focus once again, he spoke. "Anyways, thanks Tracy. Pikachu, you okay in staying here for now?"

"Pika," the Electric Type nodded in reply.

"Okay then, see you guys later." Ash yelled as he began running towards the fence surrounding the Corral. "When I come back, we'll get started on training hard, so get ready!" With that, he jumped across the fence and made his way towards his own home. He wanted to see Suicune, but as Tracy said, she was asleep and he didn't want to disturb the Water Type.

A quick run and he reached his destination. The Ketchum residence was a modest, two-storied house with an open lawn, surrounded by a white picket fence. The quick pace that Ash had set in order to reach his home had quickly slowed down as he thought of another person he had not thought about. By the time he had reached the door, he had come to realize how his battle crazy mind had made him neglect a lot more than just his Pokémon.

Steeling his nerves, he opened the door.

"Mom, I'm ho-!"

He had barely finished speaking when Delia came from the kitchen, the apron over her usual attire, and a fierce angry look on her usually smiling face.

"ASH KETCHUM, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS-"

She was unable to finish her reprimand as the young trainer barreled into her, surprising her with the ferocity of his hug. She stood there, stunned at her son's behavior, who wasn't used to show such displays of love. Her surprise increased as Ash spoke.

"I'm sorry mom."

Ash placed his head on his mother's shoulder, letting loose the guilt that had crept up on him.

"I'm sorry for not being a good son, mom."

Despite being surprised, Delia replied, "What are you talking about Ashy? Of course you are a good son. You are a son any mother would be proud of."

Ash, still hugging his mother, shook his head, "No, I'm not. Had I been a good son, I would have spent time with you every time I returned from my adventures. Instead, I just packed my bags and started off for another region without thinking that you would want to spend some time with me. And for that I am sorry."

Delia simply stroked her son's back, "Seeing you happy was enough to make me happy Ashy. Every time you returned, you were so excited about your adventures and whenever you heard about another region, there was a feeling of anticipation in you that I couldn't help but feel happy about. After all, no matter what anyone says, that is the duty of a mother. They can't help but feel nervous, scared even, when their kids are out in the world going through some adventure. And they can't help but feel happy when they return and have a smile on their faces. And that is just enough to light up their day."

"Nevertheless, if you feel that you forgot to pay attention to me, I forgive you, not that there is anything to forgive."

By the end of it, Ash was weeping on his mother's shoulders. He still couldn't believe he had forgotten about his mother so easily. All throughout his travels, he had barely called his mother a few times. Whereas she was there for him in every facet of his life, be it his younger years, his first Pokémon, his every Tournament.

In the background, Mr. Mime smiled at the mother-son interaction, but decided not to interfere. He, however, placed a small illusion on the window so no passerby could see this private moment, before he went back to his usual duties of cleaning.

Delia caressed Ash's hair, letting him cry on her shoulder and let all the guilt out. She knew something had happened with her son. Professor Oak had hinted that her boy was finally going to act as a trainer, she didn't understand what he was hinting towards. Now, she knew something had caused her normally short-sighted son to be so retrospective. And she would find out what it was. But right now, he needed her.

"Ashy," she began. "Why don't you go and wash yourself? I am preparing breakfast. It shall be done in the next five minutes. And then you can tell me everything."

As if agreeing with the owner of the house, the never ending cesspit known as Ash's stomach gave a loud gurgle, making the owner of said stomach smile sheepishly as he wiped the tears that marred his face.

Delia smiled, her son would never change, and that's the way she wanted him to be.

Ash wiping away the last of his tears as he watched his mother go back towards the kitchen. Following his mother's advice, he hurriedly went through his morning ablutions and was seated in the dining table, dressed in a comfortable pair of cargo shorts and a white t-shirt, a picture of a Pokéball printed on it.

Not a few seconds later, Delia brought forth a plate full of pancakes with bacon on the side, along with a jug full of orange juice. Ash jumped on the food and tore through it like a hungry Snorlax, a fact which made Delia crinkle her nose. While she had found it adorable on a younger Ash, it did not suit her teenage son. Deciding to talk about that later, she waited for Ash to finish his breakfast, as she too sat and had a small portion.

Ash patted his stomach, which looked full to the brim, as Mr. Mime carried away the large pile of dirty plates using his psychic powers.

Delia turned towards her son, "Ashy, what happened yesterday dear?"

Ash sighed, knowing that it was going to be a long story. "Well, you see…"

Half an hour later Delia sat there, stunned at her son's words. Oh she took the fact that his son had captured a Legendary quite nicely. While she was indeed surprised that he had done so, when she had heard his explanation she understood his reasoning. Besides, she knew that her son was meant to have a few Legendries, what with the number of encounters he had told her about, and the one she had been a part of. What did surprise her was the last part of his explanation.

"…And therefore, I have decided to stay here for the next four months and only visit Sinnoh once the new League year begins."

Ash turned to look at his mother and got concerned as she simply sat there, stock still.

"Mom?" Ash asked carefully. "Are you all right?"

Seeing that his mother wasn't responding, Ash started to get up, only to recoil as he was suddenly in a hug by said person, which made any previous hug by her look tame. His arms flailed as he tried to breath against the constriction of his mother. His arms drooped down as his face started gaining a bluish tint from the lack of oxygen, all the while Delia kept proclaiming 'how good her son was' and 'how before Delia let go of her son.

As he gulped sweet air, as though it was his lifeline. Meanwhile, Delia took her place back, a sheepish smile on her face.

"So…" Delia began a few moments later. "What were you saying honey?"

The glare that he had directed towards his mother lessened as he continued.

"What I wanted to ask was that, could you teach me how to cook?"

Seeing the befuddled look on his mother's face, Ash elaborated, "You see, throughout my travels, there was someone who prepared the meal be it Brock or Tracy. And now, while there may be a chance that I'll meet someone who can take care of that, I don't want to be dependent on anyone else. There is the option of staying in Pokémon Centers, they are few and far between and most of my time will be spent in the woods."

"I was going to ask Tracy and Brock to teach me how to prepare food for my Pokémon, but when it comes to the matter of preparing normal food, I know that you are way better than them. So, please? Could you teach me how to cook as well?"

This time, instead of another crushing bear hug he had expected, he was somewhat surprised to find his mother with a finger on her chin, a contemplative expression on her face. He thought Delia was going to decline his request, but the smile that made way on her face answered his question.

"Of course I'll help you honey. As a mother, it is my duty to help you as much as possible," Delia replied nonetheless.

Ash let out a big whoop from his seat, gaining another giggle from his mother.

"So, when can you teach me mom?"

"When do you want Ashy?"

Ash stroked his chin, as a few thoughts ran through his mind. "You see," he began. "I was going to ask Professor Oak to teach me as much as he can in the next four months. While I know about battling, the rest of it I am not as knowledgeable about. If he decides to teach me, then most of my day will be spent at the Corral, either with Professor and Tracy or in training my Pokémon."

"So why don't I teach you at night, while I prepare the dinner?" Delia replied promptly.

"That'd be great mom." Ash replied happily. Finally, things had started shaping up. He simply couldn't help but feel anxious as he thought about everything he wanted to achieve in the next four months. His attention then turned towards the clock and he was startled to find that it was close to ten o'clock in the morning.

"Hey mom," he spoke while getting up from the chair and moving towards the door. "I am going to Professor's Lab. Want to check on Suicune and the rest of the team, and have to ask Professor Oak and Tracy about teaching me as well."

"Don't worry honey." Delia spoke as she too followed her son to the doorsteps. "I'm sure they will love to teach you. Now hurry off. And don't forget that you now have cooking classes with me."

"Can't wait for the night mom. See you later." He waved her goodbye as he made his way to the Pokémon Professor's Lab.

Back in the Ketchum Residence, Delia stood there on the doorway, watching the diminishing from of her son with a proud look on her face. She couldn't help but remember the conviction and resolve in Ash's face when he talked about his plan. However, the same conversation brought a frown on her face, as she remembered the various dangerous situations that her son had been a part of.

A thought crept up into her mind, the thought quickly turning into an idea. An idea that her caring heart was starting to approve with each passing second. As she went into the kitchen, to check whether Mr. Mime had properly cleaned the dishes or not, she resolved to talk to her growing son about it.

As she thought about her growing son, another thought came to her mind. About a lesson that she hadn't given her son. A lesson, that in truth, she should have given at least three years ago.

With a new resolve, she went into the store room of the house.

She had a book to find.

As she closed the door of the store room, she let out a giggle.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Back on the route, a shiver ran down Ash's spine as his instincts warned him not to go back to his house. Thinking it to be a figment of his imagination, he carried on to the Lab. A fifteen minute walk later, he reached the gate of the Lab. With newly resolved vigor, he climbed the stairs and rang the doorbell.

A sudden feeling of déjà vu crept through his mind, as his body was once again grabbed, as soon as the door was opened and dragged into the facility. This time though, rather than asking him anything, the Pokémon Professor simply dragged the befuddled trainer by his collar and dragged him across the Lab.

Seeing the panicked look on Oak's face, Ash couldn't help but ask.

"Professor? Everything all right?"

Oak moved forward, as though he hadn't even heard the question. Ash was about to ask him once again, when he spoke.

"You have got to calm Suicune down Ash." Oak almost begged.

Ash focused his attention towards the Professor. "What happened Professor?" he asked, unease evident on his face. "Is Suicune all right?"

Oak wiped a sweat from his forehead, as he replied, "She woke up fifteen minutes ago and since then she hasn't let either Tracy or me from going near her. Pikachu has tried talking to her, but she is not letting anyone enter the room. It seems that not seeing you in the morning has made her suspicious of everyone in here."

Not waiting to reply to the Professor, Ash ran towards the Recovery Room, intent on calming down the Legendry. Reaching the room, he wasn't surprised to see Pikachu standing in front of the door.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, getting his starter's attention.

Pikachu smiled widely as he saw his trainer, and ran towards him.

"Pika Pi Pikachu Chu Pika Pi." The Electric type spoke, gesturing wildly towards the closed door.

"I know bud, I know." Ash replied. "I should have come earlier, but I had to talk to mom about something and I couldn't delay it. Anyways, it doesn't matter now. You go on and rejoin the rest of them. I'll try to persuade Suicune to calm down and come out to meet the others."

"Pika?" the Pokémon asked quizzically.

"What?" Ash shrugged. "She may be a member of the team for just a while, that doesn't mean that we cannot make her feel at home. Besides, the others will be excited to see another Legendry. Don't you think so?"

"Pikachu." His starter replied with a thumbs up, before running off to join the group.

Taking a deep breath, Ash slowly turned the knob of the door, gaining a loud growl from the Pokémon behind the door. Not paying any attention to that, he moved forward.

"Suicune," he began cautiously. "It's me Ash."

The lessening of the growl gave Ash the go to move ahead. As he entered the room, he was surprised to see Suicune standing there, in one corner of the room giving as less pressure on her bandaged leg as possible. However, she still had a guarded position, as though ready in case Ash attacked her.

"I'm sorry for not being here when you awoke, but Tracy told me that you would be asleep for a while and I had to go talk to my mom about something. Could you please forgive me for not being here?" Ash almost begged the Pokémon as he moved closer towards her.

By the time he had explained the situation, Suicune seemed to have mellowed down. Ash took a few tentative steps towards her and seeing that she did not flinch, he took the last few steps and gently enveloped the large Pokémon in a hug. Suicune nuzzled against the trainer, making Ash give out a sigh of relief. Not breaking the hug, he rubbed her back, getting a purr from the Pokémon.

"Hey Suicune…" he began. "Would you like to meet the rest of my Pokémon? I have quite a few water types and they will be ecstatic to see you."

"Suicune." The Aurora Pokémon nodded in reply.

"You don't mind if I recall you back in the Pokéball, do you?" Suicune broke the hug to look at the trainer, who himself was smiling sheepishly while scratching his cheek with his index finger.

"Um, you see, I wanted to surprise my Pokémon with your entrance. While a few of them have seen a Legendary previously, quite a few of them are young and haven't done so before." He then took out Suicune's Pokéball and was happy to see that she hadn't showed any visible reaction, bare for the slight cocking of her head.

A few seconds later, Suicune nodded her head with a soft cry of 'Suicune' and touching the center of the ball, vanished in a red beam of light.

Ash gently placed the Pokéball back on his belt and went outside, only to find Oak and Tracy peering from around the corner. He waved at them.

"Don't worry guys," he spoke with a smile. "Suicune is fine. I have her in her ball."

As he moved towards the duo, he could see them take a sigh of relief. And truth be told, he understood where they were coming from. The Lab contained equipment worth a fortune. And they did not want to have a pissed Pokémon who could destroy that with just a couple, or even less, attacks.

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, he spoke to the Professor as he reached them. "Sorry for the delay in reaching here Professor. I was having a conversation with mom and it took longer than expected."

"Don't worry my boy. I can understand you spending time with your mother." Oak waved Ash off, as Tracy went back into the Lab, most probably to do some sketching. "Now, have you decided what you are going to do next?"

"Yes Professor," Ash replied as the duo moved towards the Corral. "I intend to go to Sinnoh, but after I spend the next four months training my Pokémon. This time, I intend to learn from my victories, losses and the trials that my friends and I have gone through. And therefore, I want them to be a part of my adventures from now on. But for that to happen I need your help Professor."

Oak stood there, his eyebrows cocked at the trainer's words. His eyebrows almost vanished into his hairlines, as Ash suddenly bowed from the waist.

"Professor," he began in a serious tone. "Can you teach me everything you can about Pokémon in the next four months?"

"Ash," Oak spoke in a solemn tone, after several seconds of silence. "You do not have to bow down to me to ask to be taught. Anyone who wants to learn about Pokémon can ask the Regional Professor. And should the Professor find the person worthy enough, he can teach that person. Now, had you been the same person who had started his journey nearly six years ago, with the disobedient Pikachu, and had asked the same thing, I would have immediately declined."

Ash's heart dropped hearing this and was about to thank the Professor, when said person continued speaking, "But now, I see a young man who will go through hell in order to help a Pokémon. And that is one facet that I find in very few trainers. Therefore, I shall happily teach you everything I can about Pokémon."

Ash was about to let out a whoop of delight as the words finally registered his brain, but was stopped short when Oak spoke, this time in a tone that was completely unlike his grandfather like persona.

"Let me warn you Ash," he began. "I am a very busy person and I don't like to waste my time. Should I find that you are not making use of this opportunity and slacking off, I will immediately stop teaching you. I consider the pursuit of knowledge a great task and expect you to give it everything you have got."

"I promise to give it everything Professor," Ash promised.

"All right then," the Professor continued. "Starting tomorrow morning, seven a.m. onwards I want you present in the Lab. Don't Be Late. You will spend most of the day around me and help me in the Lab. All the while I will teach you about Pokémon. Starting from the very basics. And I don't want you to whine when I tell you something that you already know."

Ash simply nodded, somewhat stunned by this personality showed by the usually calm Professor Oak.

"And know this, no matter how much I teach you, you can never know everything about Pokémon. Four months is not enough time to teach you everything I know. Even then, after all these years of research I have done, there are still things about them that are new to me. So treat everything you get to know about Pokémon as something new to learn. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Professor." Ash replied, having finally gotten his voice.

"Good," Oak himself nodded. "From tomorrow, the time you spend in here will be distributed in two parts. Me teaching you and then you training your Pokémon. How it will be distributed will be decided tomorrow onwards." As a calm look came on his face, Oak spoke softly, "I am placing my trust on you Ash. Don't break it."

"I won't, Professor." Ash proclaimed.

"That's good to hear. Now why don't you go and spend some time with your Pokémon and get reacquainted with them. I am sure they have quite a few surprises for you, just like you have for them."

"Ugh," Ash groaned. "Not you too. In the morning, Tracy was being all mysterious and now you too. What is it that you guys are hiding?"

"Now that would be telling, my boy." Oak gave a mysterious smile, something which pissed Ash off even further. "Now, is there anything else that you wanted?"

"Yeah," Ash nodded, having already thought what else he wanted to do. "You think I can make a few calls? I think it's time some of my friends come back home."

Oak gave an appreciative nod, as he started moving away. "It's nice to hear that. You can use the telephone in the Transfer room."

"Thanks Professor," Ash replied as he made his way to the room, intent on making a few calls.

Dialing the first number, he waited for a few moments before it was answered by a familiar voice.

"Vermillion City Police Department, this is Officer Jenny. How may I help you?"

"Hey Officer Jenny, it's me. Ash. You think you could open up the video feed?"

The screen in front of Ash lit up, the smiling face of Jenny visible on it.

"Hey there, Ash. Long time no see. How are you doing?" she asked.

"It's good to see you too Jenny. I'm great. How about you guys? How is the Squirtle Squad doing?"

"Oh you know," Jenny shrugged. "We've been keeping up with our training. The squad is an even better knit group nowadays. So, you called to get Squirtle back?"

"How did you know?" Ash asked sheepishly.

"I am an Officer, Ash. I have been trained to read people and I can almost feel the excitement on your face." Jenny spoke, a proud look on her face. "Anyways, when and where do you want him?"

"Can you bring him over to Pallet Town? I am staying here for a while."

"Sure, I'll be there by tomorrow afternoon. Besides, I think Squirtle will be happier when he is with you."

Ash cocked his head, "What do you mean Jenny? Is he not happy there?"

"No! No!" Jenny shook her head vehemently. "Nothing like that. It's just that he wanted to show you something for a couple of days and I think he will be happy to finally see his trainer. I can assume you will be taking him for good this time?"

"Yeah," Ash nodded. "I hope that is not an inconvenience for you."

"Of course it isn't Ash. The face that you let go of your Pokémon just so he could help us is more than enough. Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow, Jenny. And once again thanks." Ash replied as he ended the call.

Dialing another number, he waited as the phone rang for a few seconds, before it was answered by a young green haired woman. Standing behind her was a Charizard with a bow on the top of its head.

"Hey Liza. How are you doing?" the Charizard huffed at being ignored. "And how are you doing Charla?"

"It's good to hear from you Ash. I'm doing well. How about you? Congratulations on winning the Battle Frontier." The woman, now named Liza, replied. Behind her Charla roared in agreement.

"Thanks Liza. It really was one of the toughest things I have done till date." Ash replied with his usual grin. "Anyways, how is Charizard doing?"

"How do you think? Ever since he has returned, he is training rigorously to regain what he thinks is 'lost prestige'. You know, I still find it difficult to believe that he was the same puny Charizard who came here nearly four years ago." She gained a sudden glint on her face, not that Ash noticed, as she continued, "Truth be told, you have also grown quite nicely in these years Ash."

"Thanks Liza," Ash smiled, without blinking, not understanding what she meant, something that Liza noticed. She chuckled at the trainer's obliviousness. Ash continued speaking, "Anyways, do you think you could send Charizard over to Pallet Town? I am going to spend the next few months here and Charizard can be a big help to my Pokémon in training."

A surprised Liza ultimately answered, "Nice forethoughts Ash. I will tell Charizard that you need him. Where are you going to go next? And will you take Charizard as well?"

"I am planning to go to Sinnoh after this. And will most probably need Charizard on a regular basis to train any new Fire-types I catch there." Ash replied with a smile. "Though I will see to it that he goes back to the Valley as much as he can."

"Sure, I'll inform Charizard. I'm positive he won't mind seeing you again so soon. He should be over there by the end of the day, sound good?"

"That's great, Liza! Thanks!"

"No problem! I'll see you soon Ash, take care!"

"Bye and thanks again. Bye Charla!"

"Charr!"

When the call ended, Ash took out the final number and sighed. He truly hoped that his first Fighting Type did not hold any ill will towards him. "Alright, here goes nothing," he told himself as he entered the number. The phone rang for several seconds by a brawny man with brown hair.

"Hello, this is Anthony speak-" he stopped short mid-introduction as he finally noticed who he was talking to. An awkward silence ensued over the next several seconds, with Ash not knowing what to say and Anthony simply stunned that Ash had called him. Eventually, the muscular man seemed to get his wits and spoke, "Ash Ketchum? Is that really you?"

"Yep, it's me Anthony." Ash smiled sheepishly.

"Holy fuck, you have grown nicely kid." Anthony shouted, and Ash was sure he heard a shout of "DAD" somewhere in the screen. "It's great to see you again, kid!" He looked away from the camera and yelled, "Hey Rebecca! Get Primeape over here, Ash Ketchum has called!" He turned back to Ash and continued, "It's been a while since we met kid. How are you doing?"

"I've been fine. What about you guys?" He didn't wait for a reply before continuing, "And how is Primeape doing?"

"We're doing great here. Primeape has been great as well. In fact he has been the P1 Champ for the last four years. I have seen to it that he trains regularly, not that he needs it. He truly is a training nut."

"That's great to hear Anthony, I can't thank you enough." Ash smiled before frowning, "You don't know how terrible I feel that I have been neglecting him all these years."

"Yeah, that was something I found wondering about myself." Anthony replied as a small frown appeared on his face. "I was surprised when you didn't call to check up on Primeape or anything."

"You don't know how guilty I feel about that Anthony. Even now I feel that Primeape will not forgive me." The guilt on Ash's face softened Anthony up.

"Don't be worried kid." The older man reassured him. "Sure, you may feel that you have neglected him. But I don't think that Primeape will hold it against you. In fact I am sure that he will be very excited to see you. By the way, I'm assuming that you called to get him back?"

"Actually-"

He didn't get to finish as a loud cry of "Prime Primeape" was heard from Anthony's side of the phone. A couple of seconds later, a large pig-like monkey appeared on the screen. Differentiating it from regular Primeapes was the shiny golden belt on its waist. Primeape seeing Ash on the screen, immediately got excited. "Primeape Prime Primeape!"

"Good to see you too Primeape." Ash greeted the Fighting Type with a joyful smile, as the feeling of nostalgia overtook him. "How are you doing, bud?"

"Primeape," the Pig Monkey Pokémon replied with a proud look on his face, while pointing towards his belt.

"I heard from Anthony that you have been the Champ for the last four years," Ash praised. "I truly am proud of you Primeape. I'm sure you have gotten a lot stronger since I left you with Anthony."

"Primeape Prime!" the Pokémon nodded by pumping his biceps.

"Awesome!" Ash said with a smile. "Say Primeape? Would you like to come back to the team?"

"Prime?"

"I know that I haven't been the best of trainers. I never called to check up on you, and truth be told, had someone not told me a few things yesterday I still may not have. I have no reason for such despicable behavior and right now the only thing I can do is ask for your forgiveness and somehow try to make it up to you. In a few months I am going to a new region to compete in the Pokémon League, and I'd really love it if you were to come with me and be a part of the team, battling alongside the others. I know it is a bit out of nowhere, but do you think you could forgive your idiot trainer and come back to me?"

"Prime Primeape!" the Fighting Type replied not a second later, pumping his fist, showing how excited he was. He was finally going to see his trainer again. And not only that, he'd get to meet his old friends? And travel with his trainer, hopefully getting some good fights along the way.

"Really Primeape?" getting an eager nod in reply, he turned towards Anthony. "Is it all right with you Anthony?"

"Of course, kid." The man replied with a smile. "In the end he is your Pokémon. Besides, I think I have taught him everything I can. Now the only thing he does need is experience in fighting Pokémon of different type, something which I am sure you can provide."

"Thanks Anthony." Ash smiled. "Anyways, how soon can you guys get here?"

"You still in Pallet Town?" Ash nodded in reply, as he continued, "I can be there by tomorrow afternoon. That alright with you?"

"That's great Anthony! See you guys then! See you tomorrow Primeape!"

"See you, Ash!"

"Primeape!"

As the call ended, Ash could barely hold the grin back on his face as he thought about the Pokémon that were returning to him. He was broken out of his giddy state courtesy of the voice of Professor Oak.

"So, Primeape is coming back?"

Ash smiled as he turned towards the Professor.

"Yep, and I have also called back Squirtle and Charizard. The next four months are going to be great, I just know it."

"Good, good," Oak commented. "I always thought that you would have won the match in the Indigo League if you had a few more Pokémon, especially someone like Primeape."

Ash chuckled as he thought about the Indigo League. It truly was his worst performance. While his Pokémon had given it their all, he was the one who thought about hair brained ideas. His chuckle died down as he thought about the match in the Top-16. About how Team Rocket had stolen all their Pokémon and how he had, just like always jumped into the fray to save them.

His memories soon shifted to that of a Pokémon. One of his first caught Pokémon. The Pokémon, which Brock had once commented, would take any attack if Ash asked her to. Dread filled his body, as he thought about a promise that he had made. A promise he had failed to keep.

He ran towards the Pokémon storage room, gaining a satisfied look on the Professor's face. He was happy that Ash had taken the hint that he wanted to give. Meanwhile, reaching the room Ash went to his own storage area and looked through his Pokéball collection, before eventually finding the one he was looking for. Picking it up, he ran towards the exit of the Lab.

He passed Oak on his way and stopped for a second.

"Professor, I'll be out for a while. I have a promise that I need to fulfill."

Not waiting for another second, Ash ran out of the Lab and in the direction where he had last seen her.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Pidgeot! Pidgeot!" the loud voice of the young trainer could be heard throughout the forest, as he tried to find his first Flying Type Pokémon. Ash again cursed himself for forgetting about Pidgeot. As a Pidgeotto, she had been his best Pokémon, someone he could always trust upon. And yet he had failed to keep up to a promise he had made.

Even now, he had this nagging feeling that perhaps she thought that he had abandoned her. What if she wasn't here anymore? What if she didn't forgive him?

He immediately dispelled these thoughts from his mind. He had to find Pidgeot. Even if she did not want to come with him, he had to at least tell her that he had kept his promise, albeit a bit too late.

"Pidgeot!" he shouted once again, not knowing that someone had indeed heard his shout. However, this someone wanted only one thing from Ash. And that was vengeance.

XXXXXXXXXX

A few hundred yards away, a pair of black eyes snapped open as a familiar voice reached its ears. Narrowing its eyes, it scoped the surroundings to check if it indeed was the voice of someone he despised. Eventually, it saw the person. While larger, the creature could still identify the person. The person who had used the retched Pidgeot to evict it from the area that rightfully belong to his.

It remembered. It remembered, how his own flock had gone against him when the group, led by that Pidgeot, had come to them in order to ask them to peacefully co-exist. How he had vehemently denied, only to be overruled by his herd. And how, now he was there, alone.

Once again, focusing on the human, the bird took flight.

XXXXXXXXX

A few kilometers away, a rocky cliff was filled to the brim with several small Pidgeys and Spearows. Overlooking them were a bunch of larger Pidgeots and Fearows. To a Flying-Type trainer, this would appear as heaven.

Seated on top of the cliff, like a king overlooking his kingdom, was a Pidgeot. However, her plumage could easily outshine anyone else present over there. The crest on her head longer than her body, made her stand out like a queen.

"PIDGEOT!"

The bird Pokémon snapped her eyes, trying to hone in the direction from which the familiar, yet more mature voice came from. Using her keen eyes, she scanned the area, trying to see if what she was hearing was indeed true. Not finding anything, she had almost given up.

"PIDGEOT!"

This time her eyes snapped in the direction of the shout, her keen eyes working in overhaul as she focused, more than she had ever done before. Not finding anything, she took flight, soaring higher into the sky. Flapping her wings, she increased her speed, traversing a mile within a few seconds, all the while searching for the owner of the voice.

Her eyes narrowed as she found the person. She focused even further, her eyes widening as she recognized him. Despite looking slightly older than before, not much had changed in the person. She was overjoyed as she realized that he had finally returned, returned to keep his promise. For the last three years she had almost given up hope that he would come for her, abandoning her just like many others did with their Pokémon.

As he stood there calling out her name, memories came forth to her mind. From the time he caught her, to the various adventures they shared and finally stopping on the memory of the last time he hugged her, promising her that he would come back for her.

Sudden movement made her snap her eyes in direction opposite to her trainer, her eyes widening in shock as she saw the Fearow who had started it all barreling towards him. Even from this far, she could feel the contempt and hatred that he held for her trainer. Her eyes narrowed as she saw his trajectory, a snarl forming on her face as she realized what he wanted to do.

Like hell she would let the bastard cause harm to her trainer.

She soared, higher than she had ever before.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Pidgeot," Ash called out, his voice barely a whisper, dread filling him as he thought that maybe he was too late. She must have left with her flock, lest she would have answered by now.

He turned back, dejected that he wasn't able to meet his Pokémon. He was ashamed that he hadn't even gotten the chance to apologize. As he walked back on the road, the sudden shadow of a bird forming over him made his heart sore. He stopped and looked up, hoping against hope that perhaps she had heard his calls.

Only for that hope to crumble and turn to dread, as he saw a Fearow, its beak glowing while the rest of its body spiraled downwards towards him. Not knowing the reason for such animosity, he turned to order Pikachu to attack the incoming bird, only to give a muffled curse as he realized that he had left his starter in the Corral.

He took out a Pokéball, but hesitated, not wanting to use Suicune in her weakened state. By the time the hesitation had gone, and he had enlarged Suicune's Pokéball, he realized that it was too late, as Fearow had covered the distance between the two of them and was just a few feet away from him.

He was about to jump aside and try to dodge the enraged Pokémon, when a reddish blur struck the Fearow from above, causing the Beak Pokémon to crash into the ground, creating a cloud of smoke in the surrounding area.

Ash coughed into his hands, as he got back up, the force of the attack having knocked him down a few feet away. He squinted his eyes, trying, and failing, in finding out the identity of his savoir. A sudden gust of wind blew across the area, sending the dust cloud away, immediately showing the identity of his savior.

His eyes widened, as tears filled his eyes. He would later realize that he had cried a lot in these two days. Currently, however, he could barely hold back a sob as he saw her, more majestic than any other Pidgeot he had ever seen before, as she stood there standing atop the Fearow who now had swirls in place of its eyes.

He could see the slight reddish tips of her wings, similar to the color of the shroud he had seen just a few moments ago. He did not wait another moment. He ran towards her, engulfing her in a hug, being aware as not to step on the fainted Pokémon.

"I'm sorry Pidgeot," he mumbled. "I'm sorry for being such a terrible trainer. For not fulfilling my promise. For not coming back for you even when I said I would. For making you think that I abandoned you. I have no reason for doing what I did, and even if I had I don't think it would be enough for what I did. I know that I am do not deserve it, but could you please forgive me?"

Pidgeot said nothing, staring at the openly weeping trainer as he clutched onto her plumage. She unfurled her wings, making the trainer let go of the hug with a puzzled look on his tear-drenched face. The puzzlement changed to shock filled horror as the Bird Pokémon took flight, soaring higher into the sky.

Ash looked down, tears starting anew, as he realized that his friend hadn't forgiven him. He had hoped that maybe, just like Primeape, Pidgeot would forgive him, only for that hope to be crushed as the flying form of Pidgeot grew smaller with each passing second.

He turned back, ready to go back to the Corral and inform his friends about how his absentmindedness had caused in the loss of a friend.

"PIDGEOT!"

Only to turn back at the sudden cry of his Pokémon. He looked up, only for his eyes to widen as he saw her simply hovering, high in the air, above him. Despite the height, his eyes caught Pidgeot's and he saw the fury in them. He again looked down, ashamed that he had caused this.

"PIDGEOT!"

The next cry made him focus on the Flying Type once again, his eyes widening as he saw her plummet towards him, a fire-like, red shroud enveloping her. Despite not recognizing the attack, he understood what she wanted to do. If she wanted to hurt him to vent her anger, he would let her. If this is what it took to gain her apology, he would endure the pain.

As Pidgeot closed in on him, barely a dozen feet away, he closed his eyes, getting ready to feel the pain. Although he was proud that she had learned an obviously powerful move by herself. His mind was moving towards another thought, when Pidgeot barreled into him.

The first thing he noticed that she wasn't hot, like the red shroud had indicated. The next thing he noticed, as he tumbled around, was that he had been engulfed.

Between a pair of wings.

His mind, taking a couple of seconds to reboot, finally realized that he had been hugged by Pidgeot. The tumbling duo finally stopped, with Ash laying on top of the Bird Pokémon, as he snuggled further into her plumage, enjoying the rhythmic beating of her heart.

Eventually, Pidgeot stood up, forcing Ash to do so as well. He rubbed her head crest, an action which she seemed to like if the way she leaned into him was any evidence.

"I'm really sorry, girl," he spoke, trying to convey his guilt. "Can you forgive me?"

"Pidge Pidgeot!" the Flying Type nodded, extending her wings.

Ash did not waste another moment and barreled into her, enjoying the warm feeling that she emitted, her abnormal size almost matching him in height. His focus abruptly shifted at the sudden narrowing of her eyes. He turned around, eyes focusing on the twitching Fearow on the ground.

He tried to understand why this Fearow had attacked him. While Fearow were known to be territorial, for them to attack a human without a reason was extremely rare.

"Geot Pidge Pidgeot!" the bird Pokémon chirped.

"What do you mean that he deserved it, Pidgeot?" Ash asked, happy that he could still understand his Pokémon despite being separate for such a long time.

"Pidge Pidgeot, Geot Pidgeot!"

Ash's eyes widened as he realized who this Fearow was. He turned back towards him, his burnt form twitching from the phantom pains. Several thoughts running rampant through his mind. The most prominent of them being the fact that he couldn't let such an angry Pokémon out in the open. Moreover, if Pidgeot came back to him, Fearow would without a doubt attack the flock once again.

Pidgeot seemed to be having the same thoughts, as she nudged the trainer, giving him a look that almost said 'are you gonna do it or what?' Ash shook his head, smiling. He had come here just to get his first Flying Type back, and the way she was indicating, he would most probably go home with two.

"Before I do that, I need to ask you something Pidgeot," he spoke, getting the Bird Pokémon's attention. "Would you like to come back and join me in my journey?"

"Pidgeot!" the Pokémon nodded, not even taking a second. Sure, she would miss her flock, but she knew that they were in relative peace and there were quite a few other Pidgeots and Fearows that were capable of looking after the younger ones. She also wasn't going to miss a chance to meet her other friends and see how strong they'd gotten.

Ash took out a Pokéball, and tapped it on Pidgeot's head, the mechanism sucking her in a red beam of light. He instantly let her go, his face expressing a happy feeling, something that was reflected in Pidgeot's face. He then turned towards Fearow.

"You truly did a thing on him, didn't you girl?" Ash asked rhetorically. In response, Pidgeot puffed up her chest, not at all ashamed that she had done so. In her mind, anyone who was ready to attack her trainer deserved what he got.

Ash shook his head, happy to see the loyalty that Pidgeot had for him. He took out an empty Pokéball and threw it at the unconscious Pokémon, the red and white ball sucking it in a red beam of light. The ball started shaking, indicating how the fainted Pokémon was struggling to free from its confinement. Ash stood there, nervous as he always was at the prospect of catching of another Pokémon.

The ball shook. Once. Twice. And thrice before it dinged.

"Yeah!" Ash whooped in delight, having successfully caught Fearow. Sure, he would have some trouble getting it to obey him, but he knew that with Pokémon like Pikachu, Charizard and Sceptile, he could get it done.

He faced Pidgeot once again, getting a look that almost seemed like a deadpan.

"What?"

"Geot Pidge Pidgeot?"

"Yeah…I still do that," he spoke sheepishly, the deadpan that Pidgeot had on her face increased as she thought about the childish habit that her trainer still had, whenever he caught a Pokémon.

Ash himself felt embarrassed as he thought about it. He suddenly realized that it really was a childish habit. It wasn't his fault that he got super excited when he caught a new Pokémon. Still, he decided that it was something that he could work on that in his interlude.

"Anyways," he spoke. "Would you like to stay goodbye to your flock? They are nearby? Aren't they?"

"Pidgeot!" the Bird Pokémon nodded, before she crouched down almost as if giving her trainer an invitation.

"You want me to climb your back? You sure you could carry me? I have grown a lot in these years, you know." Ash commented, getting a glare from his Pokémon in reply. "All right, all right. Geez, you don't have to glare so hard at me, you know."

He got on her back, balancing himself, as he clutched on to her feathers. An evil glint came on the bird's face, as she slowly got higher into the sky. Ash relaxed a bit, slowly getting accustomed to flying on a Pokémon's back.

Pidgeot stopped midair, an act that confused Ash. "You alright girl? Why did you stop?"

He did not get a reply, as Pidgeot zoomed across the sky, her natural instincts making her enjoy the flight. Though the reason for enjoying it also may be because of the extremely unmanly shriek that her trainer was giving.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash stood in the area that he now recognized as the den of the Flying-type flock, surprised that such a remote location with such an abundance of Pokémon was situated near Pallet Town. He sat there, watching as Pidgeot gave a tearful goodbye to her flock. He felt sad, as he saw several of them crying. Sad at the fact that their leader was leaving. However, a few of the other Pidgeots consoled them.

Bidding her last goodbye, Pidgeot turned towards Ash and once again crouched down, giving him the permission to climb on his back. The trainer, somewhat apprehensively, got on the Pokémon's back.

"Um Pidgeot…" he spoke. "Could you go a little slow this time? I know I shouldn't have doubted your flying skills."

"Geot." Pidgeot nodded, before taking flight, albeit this time at a moderate pace. As she flew towards Oak's Corral, Ash couldn't help but feel excited as he thought of how his team was now complete, the only thing waiting was the arrival of his Pokémon.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back in the Corral, the rest of the Pokémon were growing anxious at the absence of their trainer. Even Pikachu seemed worried. They knew that their trainer had made a promise, one which he intended to keep. Yet, for him to be absent for such a long time was something that they hadn't seen before.

Pikachu went to ask Oak and Tracy about him, but Tracy replied that he hadn't seen him. While the Professor replied that Ash had gone to get someone very precious to him, all the while a mysterious smile on his face.

Pikachu truly wanted to shock the hell out of him. He didn't do so only because he had grown from being the immature Mouse Pokémon that he was when he had first encountered the person. That still didn't mean that he wasn't getting pissed.

He was about to go search for him, along with a few others when something dissuaded them.

Or rather someone. The voice of someone.

The voice of someone whom the entire Kanto team recognized.

"PIDGEOT!"

The Bird Pokémon landed beside the lake in a show of elegance, the flapping of her wings minimal, exhibiting her skills in flying. Everyone, bar the Kanto Pokémon, stilled, ready for any kind of conflict. Sceptile had narrowed his eyes, twig still in his mouth, as he checked out the Pokémon.

She was strong. That much he knew, as the innate ability the Pokémon contained helped him in finding out the gender of the Flying Type. Maybe even stronger than him. Something that was enhanced by her type superiority.

Meanwhile, Noctowl and Swellow could do nothing but gaze in shock and awe at the Pokémon before them. They could feel it. This was a bird who had led. A bird who commanded the respect of a flock. A bird who had fought and defended her position as the leader.

Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Kingler and even Muk dashed ahead, surprising the rest of the Pokémon. Their surprise further increased when they saw their trainer jump from behind the back of the Pokémon.

"Hey everyone," he waved at them. "Sorry for being so late. I had to go and get back an old friend." He grinned as he saw his Kanto team interact with Pidgeot. "Now, most of you don't know her. So let me introduce you guys. This is Pidgeot," he said, pointing towards the Bird Pokémon. "She was the second Pokémon that I caught and one that I used in almost every battle in my journey across Kanto. I had to let her go so that she could look after her flock and protect them from a flock of Spearow and Fearow."

"I had promised her that I would return to get her back, and although somewhat late, she agreed to come back to me. So, from now on she will be a part of the team. Why don't you guys come and say hi to her?"

The rest of the group did not have any time to react, as the most exuberant of the group ran towards the large bird. Corphish, not paying heed to others, ran forward and started jumping in front Pidgeot. His action was followed by the rest of the group, who slowly but surely went and introduced themselves. He smiled as he saw the almost fanlike reverence Swellow and Noctowl were showing to Pidgeot. He could also already make out the hint of rivalry forming between Sceptile and Pidgeot.

He shook his head, knowing that he would have to use it without letting it go out of control. His face paled as he realized that Charizard was yet to arrive, and that was without taking into consideration how powerful Primeape had become. Whatever, he would cross the bridge when he reached it.

Now was the time for his team to meet the temporary member.

"Guys and girls," he began. "I know you guys are thrilled to meet Pidgeot. But right now, I want you all to meet another Pokémon that I caught just yesterday. Truth be told, she will stay with us just for a few days until she is healed properly. But I wanted her to have a few friends until she leaves the place."

All of his Pokémon, bar Pikachu, nodded in excitement as they thought about their temporary, yet new friend. Pikachu was somehow keeping a poker face as he thought how his friends would react at the Pokémon's revealing.

"Everyone ready?" he asked, as he enlarged a Pokéball. Getting an excited nod from all his Pokémon, except Pidgeot and Sceptile who simply nodded, Ash threw the ball.

"Go Pokéball," he spoke in a serious tone instead of his usual hyperactive one.

The Pokémon in the clearing didn't have time to notice this though as the Aurora Pokémon appeared, her white streamer-like tails billowing, as though wind was blowing behind it. The only indication that she was injured was the small bandage wrapped around her ankle.

The group stood there, stunned at the presence of the Legendary. They could not believe the fact their trainer had caught one. Sure, they knew that he was a good trainer, but to catch a Legendary, even if it was temporary was huge.

"So, what do you guys think?" Ash asked, as he rubbed Suicune's head affectionately.

The silence continued for a few more moments, as none got the words to reply. This silence was finally broken, although not by anyone in the group.

"Well, this is interesting."

Everyone's eyes snapped in the direction of the speaker, the already widened eyes of the Pokémon widening even further. Ash, Pikachu and even Suicune's eyes widened as they saw the speaker.

* * *

 **Ah! A cliffhanger. Who is the speaker? What will he/she do now that he/she knows about Suicune? How the hell did he enter the Corral without tripping anyone?**

 **All the answers will be there in the next update, two weeks from now.**

 **And once again, please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**First of all I would like to profusely apologize to everyone for the three week delay. My end sem exams finished just a week ago and I devoted my entire time on this fic. At first I had thought that I could write alongside keeping up with my studies. Turns out that exams tend to throw you on your ass, demanding all your attention. However, now that they are over, finally, I can turn my attention back on my fics. I have spent a lot of last week in writing this chapter down and the next week will be spent on my Naruto fic.**

 **Now, back to the story, I have only one word to say to all of you. WOW! I never expected the fic to gain such attention. The reviews, favorites and followings have doubled in the last three weeks and I cannot thank you all enough for that.**

 **Review Shoutouts:**

 **MidnightFenrir: Happy to find that you like the pace. I intend to keep it the same. I neither want to rush into anything, nor take it too slow and make a monstrous 400k fic or so, although I haven't decided how many chapters I will have. As for The Talk, read and find out.**

 **Radurai: Good guess. I won't say if it is true or not. Read and find out.**

 **berryboychris: Extra slots is sort of implied when I told that Gary had them. As for more Legendries, I intend to give him at most two more. Any more and it starts tending to be an overpowered Ash fic, something that I don't intend to do. I want to show him a good, almost prodigal level trainer, but giving him too many Legendries makes him an instant Elite Four Level trainer, if not Champion level.  
**

 **Oblivion Caller: Seeing that Working Sinnoh with Skill is back, I sincerely hope 0Joirdinio0 goes on to finish it. Thanks for the input. Hope you like the future chapters as well.**

 **Yanoakc: Happy to see excitement regarding this story, and once again sorry for the late update.**

 **Chermayne: Thanks.**

 **LeoPK: Thanks for the support. As I have said earlier, there are very few good Pokemon fics, and to find someone that says mine as good is a great motivator.**

 **.Dawn: Thanks.**

 **RikudoNaruto1: Hope that you find the future updates as good as the beginning.**

 **TS24: Read on to find the answer to your question. As for Ash keeping Suicune, I have already said that Ash will keep his promise to release Suicune once she is completely healed.**

 **animecollector: Ritchie. A good guess.**

 **NinjaFang1331: Hope you enjoy the future updates as well.**

 **Aoi Hyoudou: I am also a huge Ash/Cynthia fan, and therefore the lack of good, completed stories on this pairing is the reason I decided to write it. It is for this reason that I can assure you that I will not drop this story unless I have taken it to its completion.**

 **A Simple Reader: Don't worry. My muse most certainly won't peter out. I find Ho-Oh to be a source of inspiration and new start for Ash, and therefore decided to go with it.**

 **Mark Andrew: Haunter will be a bit difficult because Ash never caught him. Haunter simply decided to go along with Ash. I might get him different Ghost Type though. Haven't thought out that far. Lapras will be even more difficult. She is supposed to travel with her pod, and for her path to collide with Ash, it will have to be near divine intervention. The book, you will see in the end. Aura may or may not pay that huge a role in this fic. As for Cynthia's age, it will be clear even before Ash head out to Sinnoh.**

 **Guest: According to Merriam Webster, biweekly has two meanings. First, an incident happening every two weeks. And Second, something happening twice a week. I have already notified in my Naruto fic that I will update my fics once every two weeks.**

 **storyreader21: About the person being famous, I highly doubt it. Read on to find out.**

 **Reichi: Guessing might be good, but I won't answer so easily. Read it to find out.**

 **Random Guy: As I have stated repeatedly, there is no way in hell that I will abandon this story.**

 **Guest: Sorry to tell you, but getting Haunter back is too troublesome. I might get him other Ghost Types instead.**

 **The Quotable Patella: The next two chapters will contain most of the training, with the latter one containing flashbacks of significant moments. The moves and strategies, though I intend to keep a secret until he uses them. Since I am a new writer, writing battle scenes and lemons will be the most challenging thing for me. Lemons, if I write them, will be way into the future and I hope that by then I will have gained enough experience to write them properly.**

 **WhenWindWhirls: Thanks for the support. Seeing that so many are asking for Haunter, I will see what I can do. I promise to keep Cynthia as true to her character as possible. I might have to see those episodes for that though. However, it will take some time for Cynthia to appear.**

 **Anonymous: Good deduction skills. The answer to your question lies in this chapter.**

 **T-Biggz: No, I did not forget Haunter.**

 **XXXpossessedforlifeXXX: OOPS!**

 **James1996: Answer lies in this chapter.**

 **Samster687: Thanks for the support.**

 **Roguasashin: Don't worry. All chapters won't end like this.**

 **spidersage: Thanks.**

 **Tushar: Sorry.**

 **Silent snIper05: Again, thank you.**

 **Disclaimer: ...Checked. and Pokemon still does not belong to me.**

 **Enjoy the latest chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **A Friend Returns**

When Ash had first heard the foreign, cold voice, the first thought that ran through his mind was that he was screwed. He looked towards Suicune, who had turned towards the voice immediately, the surprise on her face catching him off guard for a moment. He turned towards the source of the voice, dread filled to his core, already thinking of ways to dissuade the speaker from making the news about Suicune public.

He came up with none.

As he was turning around, he had expected to find maybe a seedy looking guy, or perhaps some ruthless Pokémon hunter. What, or rather, who he saw belied his imagination. He stood there, eyes widened in surprise, looking intently at large bipedal feline-esque Pokémon, and he was sure that it was a Pokémon, as no human could look like that. It had a lavender colored body, pronounced purple tail and stomach, a feline head and a cable connecting the center of its back to its head behind its neck.

It stood there, floating a few feet above the ground, its purple eyes screaming of the power that it held within itself, the kind of power Ash had rarely seen. Whoever it was, it was far more powerful than any of his Pokémon. There was something though, something that told him that maybe he had seen it before, something gnawing at the back of his mind, trying to recognize it.

"It is of no use Ash Ketchum," the Pokémon spoke, although Ash was surprised to see that its mouth didn't move a bit, meaning that he talked using telepathy, something he had experienced before.

"What is of no use?" Ash asked, before continuing, "And who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Beside him, Ash saw Suicune narrowing her eyes at the intruder, her actions emboldening the others to stand beside their trainer, ready to protect him at a moment's notice. An action that wasn't missed by the floating Pokémon, if the smile on his face was any evidence.

"You truly are incredible Ash Ketchum," the voice commented. "Garnering such affection and loyalty from not only your own Pokémon but also from a Legend. You truly have not changed from the last time we met."

"What are you talking about?" Ash demanded, confused at the last statement. "I have never met you before. I would certainly remember you!"

"Ah!" the being seemed amused at this, "You wouldn't remember about that encounter. In fact I'm sure no one remembers about that particular incident."

"What are you talking about?" Ash growled, his anger increasing. "What incident?"

"It would be good for your future if you learn to control the anger that you have," the Pokémon spoke as it slowly set its foot on the ground, putting everyone on guard. "As for what incident I was talking about, it would be prudent if I simply gave you those memories back." He did not say anything as its eyes glowed in an eerie bluish glow.

Ash barely had any time to ask what the hell he was talking about, when suddenly he clutched his head, a headache of epic proportions bringing him down to his knees.

All of his Pokémon shouted their respective names, as they surrounded him, protecting him from the being that had harmed him. Their eyes glared bloody murder at it, as several of them moved to attack.

Only for each one of them to stop in their tracks as a bluish glow surrounded their bodies. The rest of them looked shocked at the sudden turn of events. Pikachu, who was focused on his friend, turned his attention towards the lone Pokémon.

"Pi Pika Pi Pikachu Pika pi Pika!" he shouted.

"Sui Suicune Cune Suicune," the Legendary spoke for the first time, her gritted teeth showing her anger. She had recognized this Pokémon, the various Legendries having talked about him the first time he had fought one of them. At that time, they had simply let him go, deciding not to intercept him because he was not a threat to the world. But now, now she didn't know what she could do. She didn't know if he was a threat or not. And if he was, there wasn't much she could do in her weakened state.

"Your worries are a trivial matter Pikachu, Suicune," he spoke, turning towards each of them. "Right now, what you think as pain is the backlash that Ash is feeling as a result of repressed memories being brought forth. It shall be over in a few seconds. Now, I neither wish to harm your trainer nor you all. So, once I let you go, I expect you to calm down and wait for a few moments."

Through gritted teeth, all of Ash's Pokémon gave a somewhat forceful nod, now knowing what the extent of this beast's power was. Their love for their trainer being the driving force in this case.

The Pokémon brought his arms back, his webbed fingers interlacing as he crossed his arms on his chest. Instantly, the blue force surrounding the Pokémon vanished making them fall to the ground with a loud thud. They turned towards the lone Pokémon, ready to attack once again in defiance, an act that gained a metaphorical raised eyebrow from him.

They stopped instantly when they heard a groan from behind them. All of the Pokémon turned their attention back towards Ash, watching with concern as he stood up gingerly, holding his now lightly throbbing head.

"Ow," he groaned, as he rubbed his forehead trying to will the remnant of the migraine away. Once he felt it had diminished enough, he opened his eyes and was surprised, yet not so surprised, to find all of his Pokémon surrounding him, a concerned expression on their faces.

"Don't worry guys," he consoled them, as he started petting Donphan's head. "It was a minor headache, nothing else." He lied through his teeth. The headache, at one point, felt like it was going to split his head, not that he would make his Pokémon more worried. Not when he had learned so much about the day he had lost, about the way he had 'died'. He gulped at the last part, not wanting to feel that again.

He turned towards the Pokémon, his own Pokémon splitting apart giving him a straight view of perhaps one of the strongest Pokémon across the regions.

"It's good to see you again…" he began in a terse voice. "Mewtwo."

The now recognized Mewtwo did not speak for a moment, before he nodded. "It's good to see you as well, Ash."

All of his Pokémon turned his attention towards him, their shock marred face making them look somewhat hilarious.

"Pika chu Pika Pikachu?" his trusted starter was the first to ask.

"Um…" Ash mused, "How do I tell you guys about that?" An idea clicked in his mind, as he turned back towards Mewtwo, "Mewtwo-"

"It will be done Ash," the Pokémon showed the prowess at his abilities as his eyes already gave off the eerie blue glow. All of his Pokémon blinked as foreign memories of a certain day entered their mind. Several seconds later, all of them turned towards Ash, their eyes brimming in tears as they saw the image of their trainer taking the hit in trying to stop the two titans from fighting further. Of how he got turned to stone and how the love from the Pokémon present there brought him back to life. All of them glared bloody daggers at Mewtwo, one of the two responsible for his state.

"Everyone…" he began once again becoming the center of their attention. "It wasn't Mewtwo's fault," he spoke, getting incredulous looks from almost everyone.

He continued nevertheless, "Mewtwo had been nothing more than an experiment to Team Rocket, who created him to simply be the strongest Pokémon. They must have treated him abhorrently to behave that way, and although that did not justify his actions, it still was a good enough reason. You saw how he changed in the end, how he took care of the cloned Pokémon."

All the Pokémon bowed their heads in shame as the words of their trainer hit home. Ash sighed. "You don't need to be ashamed," he spoke consolingly, "you all don't know how much it means to me that you are ready to stand up to a Pokémon of his caliber."

As his Pokémon perked up hearing that, he turned back towards the genetically created Pokémon, "So, how are you doing Mewtwo? And how are the cloned Pokémon?"

He sat down on the ground, followed by the rest of his Pokémon the larger ones sitting behind him, while the smaller ones all sat in front of him, Pikachu taking his customary place on his left shoulder, Aipom taking his right while Cyndaquil sat on his lap, something that caught Bayleef's ire, if her puffed cheeks were any indication.

Mewtwo raised his non-existent eyebrows at such interaction, before an unbidden smile came on his face. He too decided to get a little comfortable and sat down, cross-legged in front of the assemblage.

"I have been fine Ash," he began. "The cloned Pokémon have been kept at a sanctuary where they are free to grow at their own pace. In the past near five years, quite a few of them have set up families with the local Pokémon in the area and are living peacefully. Many of their children have gone on to get a trainer for themselves, wanting to explore the world."

"It's good to hear that," Ash nodded with a genuine smile.

"I would like to talk to you about the reason for my visit," Mewtwo said, as Ash tilted his head, confusion marring his face.

"Reason?"

"Did you think that I came all the way here just to give you back those memories?" Mewtwo asked rhetorically. Ash smiled sheepishly, rubbing his cheek in response, making the others facefault at his presumption. Had Mewtwo shown the disposition to, he himself would have sweatdropped.

He continued, "Even since my 'inception'," the word spoken somewhat tersely, "I have had limited amount of interaction with the outside world, the New Island incident being the only good one I had with humans. Ever since then I wanted to find my purpose, something that I have been missing. And that is where I need your help."

"My help?" Ash asked, still confused with the entire conversation. "How can I help you?"

"I would like you to be my trainer."

Ash reeled back in shock, trying to see if he had actually heard it. "Ca-can you repeat that?" he asked, his eyes wide with shock. "Did I just hear you say that you wanted me to be your trainer? As in actually capture you? And keep you in a Pokéball, something which I remember you abhor."

"Yes, that is what I meant," Mewtwo gave a short reply.

The rest of his Pokémon were equally stunned by this sudden proclamation. While he had already caught Suicune, it was more of a temporary situation. What Mewtwo was suggesting was more of a permanent situation. Sure, Ash would release him should he ask for it, but seeing the seriousness in his eyes, they could already feel that it would happen way down the line.

Meanwhile, Ash himself was having an internal meltdown. Just yesterday, he was a trainer who had been defeated and taught a lesson. And now he had caught a Legendary, with an even more powerful one wanting to become his Pokémon. There was a question that was running, sprinting in his mind.

"Why?" he whispered. "Why would you want me to be your trainer? I am nothing but an ordinary trainer that has his own dream."

Almost everyone present scoffed at the notion.

"Why not?" Mewtwo spoke, "Currently you are the only human that knows of my existence, and being with you I know will be more beneficial to me than say the Elite level trainers. Being with them will cause me to be a center of attraction, something I would not prefer to be until I am okay with it. Whereas, with you I know I will be able to be freer."

"But, but…" Ash stammered, looking for some reason to dissuade the Pokémon. "You will have to be inside a Pokéball, and eventually battle other Pokémon."

"I don't have any problems with any of that," Mewtwo replied, breaking down all of Ash's reasons. "If fighting another Pokémon will help me in finding my purpose, then I will do so. For the matter of residing in a Pokéball, I am willing to stay for a while if you let me travel whenever I want."

Ash slumped as all of his hastily placed reasons were thrown out of the window. "Do you really want this Mewtwo? I want to know if you really want it."

Mewtwo nodded, "Yes, this is what I wish for."

"If this is what you want," Ash sighed, before an earlier statement struck his mind. "You said that I am the only human that knows about you. What did you mean by that?"

"After the New Island, I erased the memory of my existence from every human and Pokémon that I had encountered, except for the cloned ones. This includes each and every member of Team Rocket."

"So, won't your sudden appearance into the Pokémon circuit…I don't know, break some of those bindings?" Ash asked, trepidation clear in his voice.

"While it might have been possible had I been a normal Psychic Type, my bindings are special in the sense that only a few beings are capable of breaking them," Mewtwo replied, not that much concerned about those bindings.

"And that brings us to another thing," Ash continued. "I don't think you are a registered Pokémon. And there is no way that the officials are going to let me use you in a battle unless you are registered."

"And what will I have to do to be registered?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know," Ash spoke sheepishly. "Professor Oak may know though."

"Professor Oak?"

"Yup," Ash nodded. "He is the regional professor for Kanto, responsible for providing Pokémon to new trainers. He is also the biggest authority for Pokémon knowledge across the regions. If anyone knows how to do it, it will be him."

"Very well," Mewtwo replied, before standing up once again, an action that Ash and his Pokémon imitated. "I hope you do not disappoint me as a trainer Ash Ketchum."

"I'll try to be a good friend to you Mewtwo," Ash replied, conviction burning in his eyes. He took out a Pokéball, the red and white colored ball shining as sunlight fell on it. "I'll ask you one more time Mewtwo, are you sure about this?" he asked as he enlarged the Pokéball.

"I am confident in my decision Ash."

"Alright then," Ash took a deep breath. "Go Pokéball."

The ball sailed through the air before hitting the Pokémon on the head. It immediately sucked the Psychic Type in a red beam of light, the ball snapping shut even before it fell to the ground. The ball did not even shake a bit, before a ding sounded, signifying a successful capture.

Ash stood there, stunned speechless as the Pokéball just sat there, not so much as twitching. He still was unable to comprehend what had happened. The fact that he had right now caught a Pokémon that wasn't on any known databases wasn't lost on him.

He went towards the Pokéball, gingerly picking it up as though it would break any moment, and looked at it intensely. Finally, he seemed to come to terms with the fact that he had actually caught a Pokémon capable of fighting Mew on equal terms. A familiar feeling crept within his body, the feeling wanting the boy to shout out in joy with his arms stretched as he informed the world how he had caught Mewtwo.

He nimbly squashed it down, knowing that if he was to mature, he would have to get rid of such childish tendencies. He turned towards his friends, and extending the hand containing the Pokéball, gave them a huge smile.

"I guess I caught Mewtwo!" he exclaimed happily.

What followed was a pileup, as all of his Pokémon ran at him. He barely had time when Bayleef jumped at him with a Body Slam, followed by the rest of his Pokémon. As he lay there, beneath his Pokémon, he was simply grateful that the larger ones had not decided to join in.

He didn't think he could survive getting squashed by Snorlax, or Tauros. Although, there was something gnawing at his mind, as though he was forgetting something pretty important.

"ASH KETCHUM!"

And that made him realize what he had forgotten. He extricated himself from the pileup, an extremely difficult task in his opinion, and brushing off the dust, started moving towards the Lab. Only to jump back in surprise when he suddenly found Oak standing in front of him, panic mixed with excitement evident from his expressions.

He did not get time to say anything when he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders and shaken vigorously, soon causing stars to appear within his sight.

"What Pokémon did you catch?" Oak almost demanded from the trainer. "How could you catch a Pokémon from within the Corral? You haven't even left since the morning. And now, I suddenly get the notification that you have caught another Pokémon. And not only that, it is a Pokémon that I haven't seen. Ever. Nor is it available in any known databases. So tell me boy who is this Pokémon?"

Ash would have replied, he really would have. But currently, he was trying to gather his wits and tell the Professor to stop shaking him. Even his Pokémon were stunned, as they saw the Pokémon Professor act so bizarrely. However, one recently caught Pokémon seemed to have taken ill to the fact that its trainer was being manhandled and decided to take action.

Professor Oak was surprised when he suddenly found himself floating mid-air, a bluish aura surrounding him. His surprise turned to panic when he looked downwards, only to find the mysterious Pokémon, whose picture he had seen just a few moments ago, staring at him, its eyes showing unbridled fury.

"You will keep your hands off of Ash human, if you know what is best for you," Mewtwo warned the Professor. Oh he already knew who this person was, and while he seemed to have Ash's trust, Mewtwo was still wary of the humans he didn't know about.

As the stars around his head started receding, bringing coherence back to the trainer, he looked around and was surprised to see Mewtwo standing in front of him as though guarding him. He followed his gaze and was once again surprised to find the resident Pokémon Professor, floating mid-air and flailing his arms about trying to free himself from the Psychic constraints.

"Mewtwo, let him go," he shouted in panic, not wanting the Professor to get hurt from falling.

"He was harming you," Mewtwo justified his action, still not letting go of the aforementioned Professor.

"No, he wasn't," Ash sighed. "He was just astonished at finding out that I had caught you and in his surprise didn't control himself. It happens to humans and is a part of their interactions. Now that you get to travel with me, you will understand these things. There will be time when friends hit each other, but that does not mean that they are fighting, it is just the way friends act around each other."

"These human interactions elude me."

"Well…" Ash shrugged. "It's the way we are, I guess. Now could you please let the Professor go? He is the one I told you about. And you can be damn sure that he will not try to harm me."

"Very well," Mewtwo acquiesced, as the Professor was gently brought closer to the ground, right before the Psychic shield vanished when he was a few feet above it making the Professor fall to the ground with a dull thud.

Ash ran towards Oak, giving his hand in helping the Professor get up. Oak meanwhile was cataloging whatever he had seen just a few moments ago, and there was only one word which he could sum everything up.

"Fascinating!" he intoned, his gaze never having left the new Pokémon, something which irked said Pokémon. The Researcher within him had already made several observations in the short period of time that he had seen him, and now he couldn't wait to know more about him.

"Um Professor…" Ash spoke, getting Oak's attention. "Could you please not look at him like that? He doesn't like it."

"Ah! Sorry my boy," Oak replied sheepishly. "It's just that the researcher in me couldn't help but be fascinated by a new Pokémon. Opportunities such as this are rather rare in today's world."

He straightened himself, "Now could you please tell me about your newest friend?"

Ash looked towards Mewtwo, not wanting to give away his secrets. "Only because you find him trustworthy," said Pokémon replied, somewhat hesitantly.

Ash nodded in gratitude, happy that the reclusive Pokémon was showing so much faith in him already. He turned towards Oak.

"Professor," he began, "it is kind of a long story. Would you like to hear it here or do you think we should go inside?"

"Oh! I have no problem staying outside my boy," Oak replied jovially. "In fact I would prefer listening to the tale outside."

"Okay," Ash took a deep breath, recollecting the memories of the day. He sat down, Oak following him as well as most of his Pokémon. Mewtwo floated to a nearby tree and sat down in its shade, his attention shifting to Sceptile whose eyes were focused on him in a challenging tone.

"It happened after I had won my Earth Badge and was on my way home…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Forty minutes.

It took Ash, along with the occasional comments from Mewtwo, to narrate the entire incident to the Pokémon Professor. Oak, meanwhile, had a stoic look on his face as he heard about the entire incident.

He stood up, pacing back and forth, much to the confusion of everyone present. Even Mewtwo didn't know what he was thinking, having asked by Ash to not look in other people's minds on the grounds that it was the invasion of their privacy.

Oak took a deep breath, before turning towards the group. "As far as registering Mewtwo is concerned, you don't need to worry about that. I will do everything that is necessary. I will only need to record his general information, and a small sample of the blood. And even that is not mandatory." He added the last part hastily, when he saw Mewtwo's eyes flash blue for a moment.

"We'll see about that Professor," Ash replied, having himself seen the slight anger the Pokémon showed. "What else do we need to do?"

"The discovery of a new Pokémon will create havoc among the media, so I was thinking about doing it after you left Kanto," Oak spoke thoughtfully. "Wouldn't want any media personnel snooping around the Corral when you will be training. Besides, it's not like I will reveal how I found about Mewtwo. "

"Thanks Professor," Ash spoke, sounding genuinely grateful.

"No problems my boy," Oak waved off the thanks. "But there is one thing that I will have to do." Seeing the curious expression on Ash's face, he elaborated. "I will have to tell Charles about the fact that Team Rocket were able to clone a Pokémon. It doesn't matter that Mewtwo destroyed their lab along with their research. The fact remains that they accomplished something of this level. It also means that they are capable of doing something like that again."

Ash looked thoughtful, while Oak continued, "It's not as if everyone will be knowing about this. I only want the League to be prepared should they accomplish it once again."

"And you think these people at the League are trustworthy?" Mewtwo asked.

"Oh yeah!" Ash interjected. "The League trainers are some of the strongest trainers in the world, some of them, like the Champions, are so strong that there are rarely any trainers who challenge them to a battle. More than that, the Champions are responsible for keeping their regions safe. I know a few of them personally, and I can guarantee you that they will keep this knowledge about the cloning of Pokémon a secret."

Mewtwo seemed to contemplate this for a moment. "If you feel they are trustworthy, I will keep faith in your choice," he spoke before turning towards the Professor. "But the fact that I am Ash's Pokémon must remain a secret."

Oak nodded vigorously, the grave tone scaring the hell out of him. "Don't worry about that. Charles may be somewhat more persistent in finding out about your trainer, but I can handle him." He cleared his throat, trying to cough away the nervousness he was feeling. "Anyways," he spoke once again, "I think it is time we went back to my Lab. I will have to take Mewtwo's general measurement so that I can prepare his Pokédex entry."

Mewtwo looked towards Ash, who gave a simple shrug before getting up to follow the Pokémon Professor, Pikachu still sitting on his shoulders. He stopped abruptly before turning back to his Pokémon.

"You guys be prepared," he began. "Once I make sure everything goes smoothly with Mewtwo, I am going to come back and begin our training. You ready for that?"

All of his Pokémon roared their names out in excitement, ready to prove to their trainer how strong they were. Ash smiled, their excitement making him all the more anxious. He then looked at Suicune, who was looking at the rest of the Pokémon with curiosity.

"Hey Suicune," he called her out. "You want to stay outside or would you like to come inside and rest?"

Suicune seemed to contemplate this for a while before she shook her head.

"Suicune."

Not waiting for acknowledgement, she walked towards the lake behind them and sat on its edge, before closing her eyes though not before she gave one more look to the group of Pokémon behind her.

"It seems she wants to rest outside," Ash commented, before shrugging. He turned towards the Professor, only to find him almost at the entrance of the Lab. He turned when he felt a presence to his right, and wasn't surprised to find Mewtwo standing beside him.

"Shall we go on and get this over with?" Mewtwo asked.

"Don't worry Mewtwo," Ash spoke, "Professor Oak might not look like it, but he is a very intelligent man, and a good person to boot. He won't cause you any harm."

As he started moving towards the Lab, Mewtwo hovering to his side, he remembered of the other person present in the Lab. "Hey Mewtwo, there is another person in the Lab that you must know about."

"I have already registered the presence of another human in this Laboratory. I was going to use my powers to 'suggest' him to take a walk outside when we entered the facility."

Ash winced at that, not wanting his friend to be mentally tampered with. "Um, could you not do that?" he asked nervously. "Tracy is kind of a good friend and he knows about almost everything that happens in the facility. So hiding your existence from him will be more difficult, given that I am going to spend the next four months in Pallet Town and train my Pokémon in the Corral."

Mewtwo did not reply immediately, a fact that scared the trainer somewhat. Finally, he received the most subtle of nods from the Pokémon, one that he would have missed had he not been paying attention.

"Very well, I will give a chance to this other human as well," he spoke getting a sigh of relief from the young trainer as well as the Pokémon resting on his shoulders. "But should he even think about breaking this trust of yours, I will wipe any memories he shall have about me."

Ash sweatdropped at the threat, an action that was imitated by Pikachu. Knowing that he couldn't change the Pokémon's mind, he simply shook his head and entered the Lab. Had he been looking at the Pokémon, he would have seen as his eyes flashed with a bluish color, before it vanished.

"Ash," Mewtwo spoke, as the small group made their way to the examination room. "I think it would be prudent for you to make a call to the Pokémon Rangers in Mount Silver in the next hour."

Ash and Pikachu abruptly turned towards the Psychic Type, the last statement taking them by surprise.

"Pikachu?" the rodent asked.

"Yeah, what do you mean by that?" the trainer asked the same question.

"I'm afraid I cannot give the answer to that," Mewtwo commented, as they finally reached the room where they saw the Oak setting up various machines in order to record the data he would record from Mewtwo.

Mewtwo stopped for a moment, the Lab bringing the memories that he had spent in the Team Rocket Lab, the way the scientists had treated him as though he was nothing more than an experiment.

Ash, surprised to see Mewtwo just standing there on the doorway, moved closer to him.

"You alright Mewtwo?" he asked, his concern finally overcoming his trepidation as he placed a hand on the larger Pokémon's shoulder as an act of comfort.

The sudden touch startled Mewtwo, who shook his head trying to get rid of the errant thoughts. "Yes, I'm fine," he replied as he started moving forward.

"Are you sure?" Ash pushed on, "you spaced out for a while there."

"The Lab simply brought back some memories of my genesis," Mewtwo spoke, without turning towards his trainer.

Ash's eyes softened, sympathizing with the things that the Pokémon must have gone through under 'care' of Team Rocket. He went forward and placed a comforting hand on the Pokémon's shoulder.

"Don't worry Mewtwo," he spoke. "This will be nothing like what you had to suffer under Team Rocket. Besides, Pikachu and I will be there for you. Won't we bud?"

"Pikachu!" the mouse Pokémon nodded.

Mewtwo stood there silently for a few moments, before he gave a curt nod and moved towards the room. Ash looked towards his starter who shrugged, before following the Pokémon into the room. As they entered the room, they were not surprised to find that the cloned Pokémon was standing several feet away from the Pokémon Professor, not a stitch of any kind of emotion on his face. And while he knew that the Pokémon was still wary of Oak, he wasn't going to call out to him. Mewtwo would slowly, yet steadily, give his trust to those who he felt would be worthy. He had accepted him after all. Although he did wince internally when he thought about his supposed 'death' that had gained him that that trust.

As soon as Ash and Pikachu went to stand beside Mewtwo, Oak began recording the data for the cloned Pokémon that would eventually be used to register the Pokémon in the Pokémon database. Ash and Pikachu were extremely excited, having never seen how a new Pokémon was registered.

Half an hour later, that excitement was not ebbed away, as the final recordings were done. They had seen how the Professor had noted down Mewtwo's weight and height and were surprised to find that the Pokémon was deceptively on the heavier spectrum.

Ash had taken the opportunity to measure his own height, having not done so in quite a few years, and was relatively surprised to find himself standing at 5'8", a good height as far as the almost-sixteen year old was concerned. He was even more delighted to find out, courtesy of the Professor, that by the time he reached his twenties he could easily reach 6'.

The rest of the process was routine, though it helped that Mewtwo was able to communicate via telepathy. Most of the questions that Oak asked were truthfully answered by the Pokémon. One small hitch came when Oak had wanted to take a blood sample of the Pokémon. Mewtwo had lashed onto him, using his Psychic powers to levitate the Professor mid-air. He had to eventually let him go when Oak reasoned as to how that would act as a proof about his existence. Mewtwo had begrudgingly allowed the man to take his blood, with a warning, and released him.

Ash was sure he had seen a smirk on the Pokémon's face when Oak had crashed onto the ground. It was then followed by the simple questions of what attacks he knew and what he was capable of learning.

All of the residents were stumped when he had answered that question. His own arsenal, while limited, contained attacks that were considered among the strongest. The most powerful of them being _**Psystrike,**_ which Oak informed was capable of causing physical damage and was automatically enhanced due to Mewtwo's Psychic Typing. A few other were _**Psychic, Aura Sphere, Psyshock, Giga Impact and Thunder.**_

Although what had the entire room was stumped was the small comment that he had added in the end. He had informed them as to he had overheard the Team Rocket scientists saying that since he was made from Mew's cells, he was capable of learning almost the known Pokémon moves.

He further pointed out how he had learned each of his moves with comparative ease, further taking the people and only other Pokémon in the room by further surprise. Although he did point out that he had tried and failed to learn any Dragon Type moves, justifying that he did not feel any kind of Draconic powers that he could use within him to learn them. That gave them some sort of relief.

A Pokémon capable of learning every possible move could have some very serious implications in the Pokémon world. Ash and Oak, in consultation with Mewtwo, had decided that they would check this claim in the training period. Ash, and even Mewtwo seemed excited at this. Ash because he knew what he was going to do with Mewtwo, and Mewtwo because he was getting the chance to learn his true potential.

As the final measurements were being taken, Mewtwo turned towards Ash.

"Did you not have a phone call to make?"

Ash stood there with Pikachu sitting on his shoulder, both perplexed by the Psychic Type Pokémon's words. Something clicked in the back of his mind, something which Mewtwo had told him to do. Sheepishly, he turned towards Oak, who was entering all the data into his computer.

"Professor, do you think I could use your phone to make another call?"

Oak, not diverting his attention from the computer, waved him off. "Sure, sure my boy. Go on ahead." He immediately went back to his current work.

Ash shrugged, before turning towards Mewtwo. "Will you be alright in here?"

"I shall be fine Ash." Mewtwo 'spoke'. "Now go and make the call."

Seeing the urgency behind this command, he quickly left the room and made his way towards the main Lab, which held the videophone. He took out his Pokédex, which contained the various numbers that he had stored during his travels, and searched for a particular one. Finding it, he dialed the number and waited for a few seconds as it rang, before being finally answered by a pretty, green haired, green eyed woman, who was wearing a familiar orange colored jacket with a black undershirt.

"Hello, this is the Pokémon Ranger Station in Mount Silver. This is Elizabeth. Who may I know is calling?"

Ash could hear, and see, the slight huddling of the Rangers behind Elizabeth, before he turned his attention back to the Ranger in front of him. A slight tingling went through his body, his face gaining a slight tinge of red on it as he gazed at the pretty Ranger. He didn't understand why this was happening, so he immediately shook his head, concentrating on the person.

"Ah…sorry. My name is Ash Ketchum and I was hoping I could talk to Ranger Mason," he spoke trying, and failing, at keeping his blush down. He didn't know how, but the woman was making him feel slightly warm from the inside.

The Ranger smiled, deciding not to pay attention to the blush he had on his face. "Sure, let me get her. Could you wait for a few moments?"

"Sure!" Ash exclaimed, getting a round of giggles as the Ranger disappeared from the screen. He turned towards Pikachu, wiping the bead of sweat that had formed on his forehead. "Hey bud, do you know what happened to me when I saw that Ranger? I was suddenly feeling warm from the inside."

Pikachu gave Ash an incredulous look. 'Of course he wouldn't understand what was happening to him. I swear I have the densest trainer in the world.'

Ash didn't get to say any further as a familiar red headed Ranger in a similar orange colored sleeveless jacket came in front of the screen. Though he could feel that she had come from some kind of conflict.

"Hey Ash, long time no see. You too Pikachu. How are you both?" Pokémon Ranger Mason asked.

"Good to see you too Ranger Mason. I'm fine here, what about you? You seem a little bedraggled." Ash asked, a small amount of concern making way to his face.

"Pi Pikachu!" the rodent Pokémon nodded as well from Ash's shoulder.

"It's nothing Ash," Mason waved him off. "Just a local Larvitar causing some problems. Don't worry-"

She was interrupted mid-speech when a loud shout of "LARVITAR!" came from behind her. She jumped back in surprise, before the deceptively heavy Pokémon jumped on her. Reflexes coming into action, she swept the Pokémon into her lap with a grunt before turning back towards the screen, giving Ash the glimpse of the Pokémon she held in her arms.

It was a small, green reptilian Pokémon with what seemed to be a rocky skin. It had a blunt spike on top of its head, a short, rounded snout, and triangular, black markings below and on the upper corners of its red eyes. Red scales covered its diamond-shaped belly, and there were several small holes in its body. Its short arms were lacking any fingers, while its feet had a single toenail each. It has a tail with a conical center surrounded by a ring of plate-like scales.

Ash winced in sympathy for the elder Pokémon Ranger as he recognized the Pokémon, having taken care of one for a short while in his Johto journey and knowing how the small Pokémon was deceptively heavy. The Larvitar in front of the screen locked eyes with for a brief second, before a wide smile made way to his face and it started waving at Ash, all the while waving his arms frantically.

Ash and Pikachu were both stumped, not knowing why the Pokémon was reacting to them in such a manner, before realization struck them.

"Larvitar!" Ash exclaimed. "Is that you bud?"

"Lar Larvitar!" Larvitar chanted its name frantically, the already wide smile widening even further, something that neither Ash nor Pikachu thought was possible. Seeing the smile on the Pokémon's face, they couldn't help but smile as well.

"It's so good to see you Larvitar!" Ash exclaimed.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu nodded in consent.

"Lar Larvitar Vitar Larvitar!" Larvitar continued, gesturing back and forth between them.

Ash gained a slow inkling as to what he was trying to say, and if the large grin on Pikachu's face was any evidence, even he was coming to the same conclusion. He didn't get to vocalize his thoughts, as Ranger Mason interrupted them both.

"Now hold it right there Ash!" she spoke, "what is going on over here? How do you know this Larvitar?"

"Don't you remember Ranger?" Ash asked incredulously, a look that was mimicked by Pikachu. "He is the Larvitar that I brought with me to unite with his mother. Although I still cannot believe that he remembers me."

"Lar Larvitar!" the young Pokémon shouted, indignant that he would forget Ash.

"I wasn't implying that you would forget me bud," Ash soothed the Pokémon. "I just thought that you would be focused with your mother."

"Oh!" Ranger Mason exclaimed sheepishly. "Sorry about that. This young one has been troubling us for a while. He just comes here every day and starts talking. We take him back to the Reserve, but he comes back and basically starts shouting at us. I just don't know what to do with this guy."

She groaned as she finished telling her problem. Ash, who already was having a suspicion, couldn't control himself any further and looked at Larvitar.

"Larvitar, do you want to join me in my journey?"

The Ranger's groaning came to an abrupt stop, and she turned towards Ash, her eyes narrowed. She was about to chastise him and tell him how Pokémon at Mount Silver were protected species and how trainers were forbidden from catching them, unless given express permission from the League. However, the reaction from the Pokémon sitting on her lap immediately dissuaded her from taking the course of action.

"LARVITAR!" the small Pokémon shouted out loud, before he started jumping up and down in joy, gaining several grunts of pain from the afore mentioned Ranger.

Mason quickly got hold of the Pokémon, not wanting her legs to be squashed under his weight, and placed him on the table in front of the phone. Taking a deep breath, she tried to think of any way to try and dissuade the Pokémon from going to the trainer, and unfortunately found none. She took note of the happiness that the Pokémon exuded as the duo in the screen had joined in showing their joy at finding a new member for their team. She couldn't help but smile as she saw the various promises Ash made to the small Pokémon. She realized that if there was someone who truly deserved the Pokémon, then it was this guy. A trainer who had travelled so far just to unite a mother and child, where others would have simply kept said Pokémon for their own use.

"Ash," she began, getting all of their attention. "You know that Mount Silver is a reserve where it is illegal to catch Pokémon, due to them being a protected species." She raised her hands to prevent him from speaking up. "However, the fact that it is Larvitar that wants to go with you which binds us. We cannot prevent that. Therefore, I shall allow you to have Larvitar."

She did not have time to say any further as both Ash and Pikachu started thanking her profusely, repeatedly saying that he would take extreme care of Larvitar and how happy they were due to her decision. She did have the time to prevent the Pokémon sitting in front of her from leaping at her. She did now want to have bruises from the collision.

"There are a few conditions though," she spoke. Seeing that they had stopped speaking and were looking at her intently, she continued, "I will need regular updates from you regarding his condition. Moreover, I will need updates from Professor Oak to act as a proof that you are treating him carefully. I know that you are a good trainer and would never harm Larvitar, it is a necessary formality for any trainer that gets Pokémon from the Reserve."

"It's all right Ranger Mason," Ash nodded. "I will inform Professor about this. Besides, I am staying in Pallet for the next four months. I hope that long will be enough to clear everything?"

"It might be…" the Pokémon Ranger mused, tapping her chin. "It will take a couple of months more than that, but if you treat Larvitar nicely, it will be a mere formality."

Ash's face brightened as he heard the news. "That's great, Ranger Mason. I promise that I will treat Larvitar nicely. Anyways, how do you intend to send Larvitar?"

"There are Pokéballs over here Ash," Mason commented dryly. "I will capture him using one and send him to you via the PC. Now hold on, I am fetching the ball."

Not waiting for a reply, Mason got up and went away, causing Ash to refocus on Larvitar.

"Hey bud, he began. "I cannot wait for you to come here. There are so many things that I am dying to show you."

"Lar Larvitar!" the small Pokémon bobbed its head up and down, his enthusiasm evident on his face.

Several seconds later, Ranger Mason reappeared in front of the screen, a standard Pokéball in her hand. She looked at Larvitar once again. "I am asking you one more time Larvitar, are you sure about this?"

"Larvitar!" the Pokémon nodded resolutely.

Sighing, Mason tapped the center of the ball on Larvitar's head, the Pokémon sucked into the Pokéball in a red beam of light. Not a second later, the ball dinged showing a successful capture. She turned her attention to the screen, back towards Ash.

"Alright Ash," she began. "Is your phone connected to the transfer system?"

"Yep," Ash replied, barely holding his excitement back.

"Then be ready, I am sending Larvitar to you," she continued. Behind the phone, she placed the ball on the transfer machine and watched as it disappeared in a white stream of electricity.

Back on the phone, Ash turned his attention towards the transfer machine, waiting for the newest member of his team. He wasn't disappointed when a Pokéball appeared in a white flash of electricity. He gingerly picked it up, and was about to release Larvitar when Mason interrupted him.

"Ash, the ball that I used is one used only by Rangers." She spoke, catching the trainer's attention. "Once you call Larvitar, the ball will destroy itself. You will then have to re-capture him so that he is registered as your Pokémon."

"It's all right Ranger Mason," Ash commented, before he called Larvitar out. The Rock Skin Pokémon appeared in a white flash, the Pokéball disintegrating not a second later. He stood there, confused for a few moments, before his eyes landed on Ash and Pikachu.

"LARVITAR!" Squealing in delight, Larvitar jumped on Ash. Knowing how heavy he could be, Ash braced for impact and was not surprised when Larvitar barreled into him, though the force of the impact did. He did not remember Larvitar being this heavy.

He gently patted the Pokémon on his head, before turning towards the phone. "I got him Mason. And don't worry about him. I promise to take good care of him. He is after all one of my Pokémons."

"I am placing my faith in you Ash," Mason spoke. "Don't make me come to regret it."

"You won't," Ash spoke resolutely. "Anyways, thank you for your help. I'll be in regular contact with you and keep you updated about Larvitar."

"See that you do, Ash. Anyways, I'll talk to you soon. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Ranger Mason."

"Pi Pika Chu!"

"Larvitar!"

The trio waved her off as the screen blinked as the connection was broken. Ash turned his attention back towards Larvitar, who himself had a grin on his face.

"So Larvitar, ready to become my Pokémon?" Ash asked rhetorically.

"LARVITAR!" the Pokémon nodded, not wanting to wait any further.

"Then here goes," Ash took out one of his unused Pokéballs, and enlarging it tapped it on the Pokémon's head, once again sucking him in a red beam of light.

The ball immediately dinged, showing a successful capture.

Ash gazed at the Pokéball before giving it a small peck. "Welcome to the family Larvitar."

"It seems you have gained a new Pokémon," a familiar voice came from behind them, startling those in the room. Ash turned in the direction of the voice and was surprised to find Mewtwo standing in front of the door.

"Yeah," Ash spoke, rubbing the back of his head. "Larvitar is actually an old friend. I helped him reunite with his mother when he was separated as an egg." He blinked a few times as he realized something. "You made me call them for that reason, didn't you?"

The smirk that Mewtwo had on his face was all the answer that he needed. Shaking his head, Ash continued his questioning, "How did you know that Larvitar wanted to come to me?"

"You seem to forget that I was made as an impression of Mew, and it is supposed to have Psychic powers that transcend any known Pokémon. So, it wasn't unfeasible that I could hear Larvitar call out your name repeatedly." Mewtwo explained to a wide-eyed Ash.

"Wow!" Ash breathed in awe. Quickly recomposing himself, he spoke again. "Thank you Mewtwo. You don't know how much this means to me."

"Your thank you is unnecessary Ash." Mewtwo spoke. "You are my trainer and it is my duty to see that anyone who wants to be with you does so."

"You need to lighten up Mewtwo," Ash sighed. Seeing the confusion on his face, Ash elaborated, "While it is true that you are my Pokémon, it doesn't mean that you need to act subservient to me. All my Pokémon are my friend and they are treated as such. This includes you as well."

Nodding in reply, the trio slowly made their way out of the room, and were eventually joined by Professor Oak, who looked like he had struck a goldmine. When asking the reason for his expression, he simply replied that he had completed the Pokédex entry for Mewtwo and that he couldn't wait to tell the world about Mewtwo.

As they made their way into the Corral, there was a question that was nagging Ash. He therefore decided to ask the Professor about it.

"Hey Professor?" he asked, getting Oak's attention. "Is there any way that I can check what moves my Pokémon know? Tracy hinted that they had learned new attacks, but I don't want to simply ask them to demonstrate in case it is a dangerous one."

Oak blinked in surprise, before he spoke. "You mean you don't scan your Pokémon for the moves that they know?"

"Huh?" Ash replied eloquently.

"Ash," Oak asked. Slowly. "You know that the Pokédex allows you to scan for your Pokémon's moves, don't you?"

"Um…no?" Ash replied, scratching his cheek with his index finger, as his face burned crimson due to embarrassment.

Oak sighed. 'I have a lot to teach this kid' he thought.

"Give me your Dex," Oak spoke, extending his right arm. Ash took out his Pokédex and placed it on the Professor's outstretched hand. Eventually, they reached near the lakeside where all of Ash's Pokémon were resting. Seeing their trainer come, all of them jumped to their feet, although a few of them were still unnerved by Mewtwo.

Opening the touchscreen display, he pointed it towards Kingler.

" _ **Kingler, the Pincer Pokémon. Kingler has an enormous, oversized claw. It waves this huge claw in the air to communicate with others. However, because the claw is so heavy, the Pokémon quickly tires. This Kingler is male and has the abilities Hyper Cutter and Sheer Force. This Kingler knows the moves Bubble Beam, Metal Claw, Iron Defense, Protect, Guillotine, Crabhammer, Hyper Beam and Rain Dance."**_

Ash stood there, transfixed, at what had happened. He was ready to bet his entire earnings from the Battle Frontier that Dexter had never given this elaborate information about the Pokémon. The next thing that had him in a bind was the attacks that Kingler knew. The last time he checked, Kingler did not know these attacks. And what the hell were the abilities?

Seeing his scrunched up face, Oak decided to intervene. "Your Pokédex had the facility that it allows you to scan a Pokémon you have captured to find out whatever moves it knows. However, it seems that somehow yours was disabled to simply show the basic data. As you can see I have enabled it. So, now whenever you catch a Pokémon and scan it, it will show all the data."

"Um…Professor," Ash spoke, as he made his way towards Kingler in order to congratulate him. The fact that he had learned those moves by himself was commendable and he wanted to show it to the Pokémon. "Dexter pointed out something about abilities." Ash continued, as he reached out to pet Kingler. "I don't understand what it meant." Now he realized how much he depended on Brock and his trove of knowledge.

As the Pokémon went to surround Ash, Oak elaborated. "Each Pokémon has an ability inherent to its species, the ability granting it some advantage. For example, your Kingler has the ability Hyper Cutter. This makes it impossible for your opponents to lower the strength behind his attack."

"But what about his second ability then?" Ash interrupted. "You said that each Pokémon has an ability. But Kingler has two. How can that happen?"

Oak did not seem affected by the interruption, and continued, "The second ability is something that we professors are calling the hidden ability. This ability, as the name suggests, is hidden within the Pokémon. Only when a certain criteria is met, does this ability manifest itself and becomes a normal ability. What the criteria is and how it is met is still a mystery, one that several Professors across the regions are trying to figure out."

"It is quite rare to find Pokémon who have unlocked their hidden ability, truth be told," Oak continued, he also seemed surprised that Kingler had his hidden ability unlocked. "Kingler's hidden ability Sheer Force means that any attack that has a secondary effect gains more power but loses its effect."

"Wow" Ash intoned, before turning towards Kingler, who was busy producing bubbles from his mouth. "You are a powerful Pokémon Kingler. And the moves that you know…I cannot say how proud I am of you."

"Koki Ko Koki!" Kingler gargled.

"Anyways Ash," Oak interrupted, "is there anything else that you need me for?"

"Not right now Professor." Ash spoke. "I am going to spend the rest of the day seeing what my Pokémon know and start their training. Though I might need your help later."

"In that case I will be in my lab," Oak commented before he started moving back towards his lab. "Feel free to call for me if you need anything."

"Thanks Professor," Ash waved him off before turning towards his Pokémon, all of whom seemed excited at the prospect of training.

"Now that everything is sorted out, I think we should begin our training. What do you all think?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Therefore, he wasn't surprised when all of them shouted in affirmative.

"Good. Now, for the rest of the day I am going to some mock-battles so that I can understand your skill levels, and then I can set up a training schedule for you all. You all ready?"

The collective shouts was all the affirmation he needed. He subconsciously ran his hand over the Pokédex, as he saw Mewtwo and Suicune stand off somewhat away from everyone. He then saw the challenging glint that Sceptile threw at Pidgeot, a look that was reciprocated.

He pondered who he should start the proceedings with, before finally coming to a decision.

"The first battle will be between Kingler and Totodile," he began, getting some groans from the rest of the Pokémon. "Don't be like that guys and girls," the last part added hastily, "I told you that will fight everyone, didn't I? Besides we have the rest of the day for that."

All of them acquiesced to his reasoning and parted away, emptying a large enough area to create a makeshift arena for battle. Everyone seemed pumped to see a battle, even Suicune and Mewtwo, although their interest was nicely guarded.

Ash turned his attention towards the duo who were standing in front of him, ready for his orders. "I am going to use Kingler in the fight," he pointed out to the Water-Type, who clicked his pincers in happiness. "Totodile, I want you to fight on your own. I want to see how you can handle yourself. Okay?"

"Toto Totodile," the Big Jaw Pokémon replied, right before it started his customary dance.

Ash shook his head at his Pokémon's antics. Previously, he would have been embarrassed at this, but now he understood how Totodile showed his happiness. And there was no way in hell that he would prevent this from happening. He then pointed his Pokédex towards him, wanting to know what new things the Water-Type had learned.

" _ **Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokémon. Despite the smallness of its body, Totodile's jaws are very powerful. While the Pokémon may think it is just playfully nipping, its bite has enough power to cause serious injury. This Totodile is male and has the ability Torrent. Totodile knows the moves Crunch, Ice Fang, Slash, Water Gun, Headbutt, Scary Face and Dragon Dance. Note: Dragon Dance is an egg move."**_

Ash really felt that he was going to faint on the spot. Not only had Totodile enhanced his previous moves, but had gone on to learn moves like Dragon Dance and Ice Fang, the previous one of which really stumped the trainer. Although, when he thought about it, the 'dance' that Totodile usually did could act as a precursor for the move. He refocused his attention back on the Pokémon.

"You really outdid anything I had thought of you Totodile," Ash commented, getting another jig from the Pokémon. "Now, let's see how well you can do by yourself. You ready?"

"Totodile!" the Pokémon nodded. Right before it started dancing, gaining sweatdrops from almost everyone.

Ash made his way to one end of the clearing, Kingler standing in front of him, while Totodile went to stand across them, on the other end. Seeing that they were lacking a referee, Pikachu went to stand in the middle of the sidelines. He raised both his arms up, before turning towards each of the competitor, both of whom nodded.

Pikachu had barely brought his hands down before Totodile moved, the speed of the Pokémon taking Ash completely by surprise. His surprise did not last long as he saw the Pokémon's claws lengthen with a white glow on them.

"Kingler, Iron Defense!"

Ash himself winced as he heard his voice. 'Damn I have to take care of that as well,' he thought, before focusing his attention on the field.

Kingler's body shined brightly, before the light died down. Not a second later, his elongated claws cut across the Pincer Pokémon, gaining a wince of pain from the attack. As Totodile jumped back, Ash decided to go on the offensive.

"Attack with Crabhammer Kingler!" Kingler moved forward, his pincers glowing white as energy was stored in them. He was about to hit the water type, when Totodile danced his way out of the attack. The surprise on Ash's face increased when Totodile was suddenly encased in a turquoise aura. He cursed as he suddenly realized that the small Pokémon had used Dragon Dance to boost his speed, and most probably attack.

"Kingler, Guillotine!" he shouted out loud, knowing he had to finish the match quickly. Kingler responded instantly, moving forward to grab the Water Type in his pincers. In another surprise, Totodile dodged the attack, by using Water Gun on the ground.

"Kingler, Hyper Beam!" the sudden attack caught Totodile by surprise, and he could do nothing as the yellow-orange beam collided with him. Totodile cried out in pain, before crashing on the ground, creating a dust of cloud. Ash waited for the cloud to dissipate, worrying that maybe he had gone too far.

He was proved wrong when Totodile jumped out of the cloud, albeit with severe burns on his body, and charged headfirst into Kingler. Unable to do anything due to the effect of Hyper Beam, Kingler cried out in pain as the Headbutt hit him, sending him back several paces. Totodile did not wait another moment and charged once again, his teeth glowing with an icy aura.

"Kingler, use Protect!" Ash shouted out loud, as he realized the Ice Fang. Totodile had almost reached Kingler when he was surrounded by a vibrant green dome, protecting him from the Ice Type attack. Ash was happy to see though that the force of the attack was pushing Kingler back, and he could see Kingler panting from the effort to keep the shield up.

"Kingler, finish it up with Hyper Beam!" Letting go of the Protect, Kingler fired another Hyper Beam, the attack hitting Totodile point blank.

"Dile!" the Water Type cried out in pain, as he was blasted towards the ground. Ash stood there, worry evident on his face for his Johto Starter. He was about to move towards him when the dust cloud dissipated to reveal a heavily injured, yet still standing Totodile.

"Totodile, I think I have gauged Kingler's and your skill level," Ash spoke out loud, getting the Pokémon's attention. "Why don't you and Kingler rest for a while. You two did great."

Totodile, forgetting his state of exhaustion, started doing his usual dance, gaining laughs from several of the Pokémon available.

"Great job Kingler," Ash commented as he petted the Pincer Pokémon, "I can't wait to train more with you and make you even stronger."

"Koki Koki!" Kingler clicked his pincers, before moving off to the side. Ash smiled before turning towards Totodile. He gasped as he saw the scene before him, the reaction copied by almost all the Pokémon.

Totodile was suddenly enveloped in a mesmerizing white light. His body began to grow, with the body gaining a bit of girth. His long snout gained a more rounded shape, while spiky protrusions grew on his head. His tail grew a little longer, with the triangular spike on its end gaining a diamond-like shape.

As the light finally died down, Ash couldn't help but smile at the Pokémon that had taken Totodile's place.

"Cro Croconaw!" Croconaw squealed, before it started his usual dancing.

"You evolved into Croconaw!" Ash shouted in utter joy. All of his Pokémon joined in congratulating the newly evolved Croconaw, as Ash took out his Pokédex.

" _ **Croconaw, the Big Jaw Pokémon. Croconaw is the evolved form of Totodile. Once Croconaw has clamped its jaws on its foe, it will absolutely not let go. Because the tips of its fangs are forked back like barbed fishhooks, they become impossible to remove when they have sunk in. Note: this recently evolved Croconaw has the ability to use the move Water Pulse."**_

"Well, damn..." Ash commented. "Did you hear that Croconaw? Water Pulse. That is a damn good move."

"Croco Croconaw!" Croconaw exclaimed, regaining his usual dance.

"All right everyone," Ash called out, "Now the next battle is going to be between…"

XXXXXXXXX

Ash made his way towards his home, the entire day having sapped him of his energy. He couldn't believe how much his old Pokémon had grown in his absence. The number of moves they had learned, while limited were extremely powerful. And the growth in their skills was beyond what he had imagined. There were still a few things that he needed to sort out, but he thought that the next four months would be enough for that.

He thought about the few hours that Oak had spent, teaching about the various facets regarding Pokémon. He couldn't believe how less knowledge he truly had about Pokémon. The professor had to teach him from the basics, although given the fact that he was so accustomed to Pokémon, he was easily grasping the concepts, a fact that Oak seemed rather happy about.

He remembered how he had decided to let Pikachu and Mewtwo stay in the Corral to allow him to bond with the rest of his Pokémon, while Pikachu just wanted to stay with the rest of them. As his home came into view, Ash couldn't help but quicken his pace, remembering about the cooking that he had to do with his mother.

"I'm home," he shouted as he entered his home.

"In here Ash," Delia's voice came from the kitchen, and without giving another thought Ash made his way towards said room.

As he entered, he saw his mother sitting on a chair, reading a book. Her attention immediately turned towards him, a smile making way on her face. The smile immediately waned a bit when she saw his disheveled state.

"How was your day honey?" she asked, as she placed the magazine away.

"It was great!" Ash exclaimed. "I cannot believe how much the rest of my Pokémon have improved in my absence. Makes me feel bad that I neglected them for so long. But still, that was in the past and I have already started to rectify that…"

The conversation soon turned out a bit long as Ash narrated his entire day, including his encounter with Mewtwo, although he did keep out the fact that he had died. He did not want to face his mother's wrath for that particular incident. Delia was stumped to hear about Mewtwo and how he had decided to join Ash. That made two Legendries in two days.

She then shooed him away, wanting him clean for the cooking lesson. After a quick bath, Ash was back in the kitchen, learning skills from his mother. He could easily say that it was one of the highlights of his day. As a young child, like any other child, he was embarrassed whenever his mother showed him love in public. But now that he was mature, or so he thought, he appreciated the time he spent with her. From the way she taught him the methodical way to create food, to the creativity involved in it. The banter that they did was also appreciated. For the first time, he saw her more as a friend than as a mother and felt that he could easily share his thoughts with her.

The lesson went on till the actual food was prepared, and they spent dinner eating in a comfortable silence. As the dishes were being taken away, courtesy of Mr. Mime, Delia called Ash into the living room.

As he sat down, he failed to notice the Psychic pressure applied on him by Mr. Mime. He also failed to notice the mischievous smile that Delia had on her face as she picked a book from the book shelf. It was only when the book was placed on the table in front of him that he paid attention to it.

The orange colored book, with the picture of a boy running after a girl and with the title 'Make out Paradise', made him want to run away from the room for unknown reasons. His instincts blared for him to run away when Delia gave a creepy giggle.

"Um…what is it mom?" he asked, as sweat began to cover his face. He tried to get up, but suddenly realized that he couldn't stand up.

"Ash…" Delia began, "this is a conversation that I think has been withheld too long."

The beads of sweat turned to rivulets on Ash's face as he suddenly started feeling warm from within for some unknown reason.

"I think it's time we had The Talk."

XXXXXXXXXX

Two hours later, a completely embarrassed, red-faced and mortified Ash Ketchum lay on his bed, with only one thought on his mind.

'I just hope Mewtwo can erase this memory.'

* * *

 **Phew. Writing this in one week was hectic. Anyways, now that I have seen the benefit of it, I have decided to concentrate on just one story at a time. It doesn't mean that I am abandoning any one of my fics. It just means that I will write one story at a time and publish it. It also means that since I am currently writing two fics, I will still update once every two weeks, so nothing different for you all.**

 **The next update in two weeks.**

 **Ja Ne!**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Author's Note:_ A very HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone out there. This year has been a blast. I made some mistakes, rectified them and took another step towards my dream. Anyways, I know you all are not here to learn about my life story. So, I bring forward the next chapter of Pokemon Platinum: The Rise of a Master. Many of you asked for a chapter containing the training that Ash does. While in the beginning I was for this, but as I sat down and started writing, I realized that by showing how he trains it reveals a lot of the abilities that his Pokemon have. And that is something that I wanted to keep a secret until the time comes.**

 **This chapter, in essence, is a time skip containing several flashbacks that shows the major events that occurred throughout the training period. I know that it may seem like some sort of hack, but for me this is the perfect way to continue with the story without keeping the pace too slow.**

 **Many of you commented that Ash had met Mewtwo once again in Johto so he shouldn't have forgotten about that incident. Here, I have taken something known as an author's privilege and decided to make it seem that Mewtwo once again removed any memory about himself.**

 **Quite a few wanted Ash to gain another Legendary, a few suggesting a certain Eon Dragoness. To them, I have to say that it might not be possible in this fic. Maybe in the next iteration of this fic. Too many Legendries does not make a good trainer. And that is how I want to show Ash to be. So, sorry guys but no more Legendries for Ash in the foreseeable future.**

 **In the last three weeks I realized that when I try to rush with a fic, the quality of the chapter deteriorates. As a result, the past few chapters for both of my fics have been not up to the mark. Therefore, I have decided that I will not set a timeline for the updation of my chapters and update when I feel that the chapter is up to the mark.**

 **Anyhow, now that the bigass AN is complete, enjoy the latest chapter of Pokemon Platinum: the Rise of a Master. This chapter is the last one before Ash begins his journey in Sinnoh.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, Tajiri does...And i hate him for it.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **Preparation and Departure**

As dawn slowly gave way to a bright new morning, our resident Pokémon trainer, Ash Ketchum, could be seen in his backyard. Anyone who knew him would be astonished at seeing the person awake so early in the day, having known him to not be a morning person. And had it been four months ago, they would have been spot on - despite whatever protests the black haired trainer might give.

Now, now he could be seen in the backyard of his house, not only fully awake but going through what one could see was some kind of martial arts stances with a significant amount of fluidity. Unbidden to everyone, the thought of how he had gone on to learning this was running through Ash's mind.

He still shivered internally when he remembered the conversation he had with his mother. It had been a couple of weeks after his decision to stay in Pallet, and mother and son duo had grown even closer than they ever were before. The cooking lessons bridging the non-existent gap between them. Having decided to take the plunge, Ash decided to tell his mother about the adventures, or rather misadventures; his small group had gone throughout his journey.

At first his mother had seemed highly accepting; as she silently listened to her son speak the entire time. Taking it to be a sign of acceptance, he barreled on with his 'speech'. From his adventures in Rota, to the incident on New Island, though he did leave out the fact that he had essentially died for a short while. That was one incident that he was going to take to the grave.

Having ended his speech, he was waiting for Delia to reply, when she simply stood up and went towards the kitchen. A befuddled Ash followed her, not knowing the pit having dug himself into. He had barely made it to the kitchen table, when he was struck on the head.

With a ladle.

HARD.

He had looked into his mother's eyes. And in there, he saw something that made him almost wet his pants.

Fury.

Unbridled fury.

He had never seen that kind of expression on his mother's eyes, and truth be told, it scared the shit out of him. However, that fury had instantly been replaced by concern as she had clutched his head tightly between her bosoms. What followed had made him guiltier.

She cried.

Not the crying she did whenever he restarted his journey. It was one of those heartfelt cries that made his gut churn. He had wanted to argue and tell her how he was the one that fell into such troublesome situations, but lost all heart to argue he had seen her cling to him as though he would vanish the next moment.

He had let her vent. He had let her admonish him for his pigheadedness, for how he did not think about her whenever he went into such life-threatening situations. And when he had given it a deeper thought, he had realized that what she had spoken was the truth. He always, always thought about the Pokémon first, and damned the rest of the consequences.

He had known that his mother knew about his disposition to get into trouble, the episodes in the Shamouti Island and the Unown having taken place in her presence. But she had never known the true extent of his adventures.

She had fallen asleep in his arms, tears streaming from her eyes. He had carried his deceptively light mother and tucked her in the bed. Even then, she had not let go of his hand and no matter how hard he had tried, she wouldn't let go. Giving in, he had somehow dragged a chair and slept by her bedside.

Only to be have been woken up at the break of dawn.

Courtesy of a bucketful on water.

Bucketful of freezing, icy water.

He hadn't even gotten the chance to get his bearings straight before he was grabbed by the earful and dragged from the room. All the while being dressed-down by his mother. She had hauled him out of the house, still fully soaked, and carted him several houses down the road.

By the time he had gotten hold of his faculties, his mother had reached a house and had been talking to a relatively young man. Catching drift of the exchange, he had comprehended that the man, identified as a Mr. Uzumaki, was going to teach him martial arts.

Stunned by the sudden turn of events he had introduced himself almost in a robotic manner, following which he was given the instruction, by Mr. Uzumaki himself, to meet him every morning at five. He had shown no expression, something which his new trainer must have noted, and then simply proffered the adult a farewell.

Having reached his home, he immediately inquired his mother of the reason for this 'training'. Delia had taken a seat in the living room and responded by saying that while she could have simply voiced him to not get into such escapades, she knew that it would be for naught, having known his penchant to assist Pokémon regardless of any self-preservation. And the only thing she could do was ensure that he was ready for any kind of such adventures.

And luck seemed to favor him as Mr. Uzumaki, the newest resident of Pallet Town, had started a martial arts course to better prepare upcoming trainers, along with anyone else who wanted to join the classes. He was, apparently, a master of the several old martial arts forms and was, in fact, one of the few masters of the ancient arts, across the regions.

Ash had felt relief flood into his body, and had smiled afterwards at the concern she had displayed for him. The smile was wiped out the next moment when she had threatened to beat him to a pulp should he try to instigate such incident by his own volition.

So, abiding by his mother's wishes, he had gone to Mr. Uzumaki's classes the next morning.

Only to wish he hadn't.

Behind the façade of a nice, joyful man was a hard taskmaster who had taken it upon himself to drive young Ash to the ground with his tor-training. Ash really believed that the young man wanted to kill him with the amount of exercises that he had made him do. And while Ash was no slouch in the physical department, having travelled the many regions primarily on foot, he was cursing Naruto-sensei- the man having told Ash to call him by that title in his dojo- for the exercises he had to do.

He could not believe that there were these many muscles in his body. He had dragged his battered body to his home, and made his way to his room, forgoing any kind of extra activity, falling into the abyss of sleep. He was therefore oblivious of the admonishment that Delia had given to the martial arts master, her visage creating an image of horror among the populace who had avowed never to get on the bad side of the unpretentious Delia Ketchum.

Although it did not seem to have any kind of effect on the young man, if the rigorous training was any evidence.

However, now that three months had passed Ash could say that he was ecstatic with the outcome. As he went through the katas that Naruto-sensei had taught him, one could see the thin sheen of sweat on his 5'10" body, as his recently shaped muscles contracted and expanded at the same time. His previously nicely shaped pectoral muscles having gained a good definition along with the rest of his body.

The effortless flow from one stance to another showed the hard work he had done in order to memorize the forms shown to him by his teacher. Yes, he could easily say that the rewards outweighed the tor-training. Sure, he was no master but he knew that should he be in another life-threatening situation, he would be as ready as he could be. Besides, Naruto had already given him scrolls-an odd form of way to store information according to him- containing information on what he had to do to further his skills, something that he completely intended to do.

After another hour of exercises, he retreated to his room and went through his morning ablutions, his mind ruminating through the major events that had transpired in the past four months.

 _ **Flashback-Four months ago**_

 _Ash stood in the clearing, which he now recognized had been claimed by his Pokémon, staring at the situation in front of him. The situation would have seemed serious or even heartening, had his head not looked as though it had been burnt to a crisp._

 _His day had started good enough, if he overlooked the snickering that his mother had directed towards him on account of the huge blush he had on his face._

 _It wasn't his fault that he had had some rather inappropriate dreams regarding his mother and was trying, and failing, to subdue those images._

 _After a hasty breakfast, he had immediately made his way to Oak's Corral, ignoring the fact that the snickers had turned into a full blown guffaws. Having reached there, he had immediately asked Mewtwo to erase the entire conversation that he had with his mother, only to find the Legendary unable to do so. Something that shocked even the Genetic Pokémon._

 _Ash undeniably thought that he was doomed._

 _Disconsolately acquiescing to the fact that he was to forever have the memory etched in his mind, he had gone to meet Professor Oak, ecstatic and ready to learn from the famous Professor. Said ecstasy was quashed when Oak gave him a book encompassing the different Pokémon types, along with the description of several attacks in each type and abilities. Oak had informed him that he had till the end of the week to learn everything in the book, after which he would have to give an exam of sorts to see how much he remembered._

 _Although the book was fairly small, Ash had grouched at the fact that he had to learn from the book. He had always considered him to be better at learning through experience rather than the books. Still, he had vowed to the Professor that he would do his best, and he would do his utmost to fulfill it._

 _He, therefore, grabbed the book and went outside to study as well as train his Pokémon. He had barely made it outside when a loud roar had caught the attention of every Pokémon._

 _Except Mewtwo. He seemed to have sensed the presence of the Pokémon beforehand._

 _Having recognized the roar, Ash turned his gaze upwards in the direction of the roar and smiled when he saw the familiar visage of his first Fire Type flying towards the group. It was as the Pokémon was about to reach the group when Ash noticed something coiled around him. He was about to ask what, or rather who, it was, when Charizard let out another roar and burned his trainer's hair to a crisp._

 _The book was somehow left unscathed._

 _While a few of the Pokémon looked aghast, most of the group simply shook their heads at the antics of the Fire Type. Ash merely stood still for a few moments before coughing a puff of soot from his mouth. He then turned to the form curled around Charizard's body, immediately recognizing it as a Pokémon. It was a small, blue serpentine Pokémon with what appeared to be a white underbelly. It has white, three-pronged fins on the sides of its head and a white bump on its forehead. Above its large, round, white snout are oval, purple eyes._

 _Recognizing the relatively young Dratini, Ash turned his attention back to Charizard, only to be surprised to see a sheepish look on said Pokémon's face, something that he had never seen before ever._

 _Charizard was about to speak something, when Mewtwo broke the sudden silence._

" _He saved the Dratini from a group of wild Sharpedo," Mewtwo began, before turning his attention towards the now gawking Dragon-Type. "Apparently, this young one's mother was captured by a trainer. He wanted to catch her as well but she escaped in the bare nick of time. She swam as far as she could, only to end up being attacked by said group. Charizard here saw her while he was flying overhead and decided to help her. After saving her, he tried looking for the trainer thinking that he might…force him to release the mother. He searched for the entire evening and a large part of the night, but was unsuccessful. Not wanting to leave her alone, he decided to bring her here."_

 _The raising of his non-existent eyebrow was the only reaction that Ash received from Charizard, although the young Dratini seemed all the more amazed._

 _ **Flashback End**_

Ash couldn't help but grow ecstatic at that particular incident. Though at first, Dratini was quite reserved, spending most of her time with Charizard, she eventually got used to being around so many Pokémon and himself. Mostly due to the coaxing of Charizard himself, having become the unofficial guardian of the young Dragon Type. Two weeks later, surprising no one bar Ash, she decided that she wanted to join the team, leaving a flummoxed, yet excited Ash Ketchum. The rest of his Pokémon simply welcomed the young Dragon into their fold, while leaving Ash into wondering how he could have gotten so lucky.

Thinking about his recent captures brought forth another memory from the depths of his mind.

 _ **Flashback – Three Months Ago**_

" _She what now?" Ash exclaimed._

" _She says she wants to stay with you," Mewtwo spoke slowly, as though talking to a child._

 _A dumb child._

 _Just a day before Suicune's injuries had completely healed and she had been deemed fit by the Professor a couple of hours ago. Ash, keeping his promise was about to release the Pokémon when she shook her head, and rubbed her head against the trainer. Meanwhile, the rest of his Pokémon were snickering in the background. Even his trusty Pikachu._

" _Why?" Ash asked, still confused with the entire notion. "Not that I am happy that you want to stay Suicune." He immediately added, seeing the Aurora Pokémon's head droop down a bit. "But aren't you Legendries required to maintain some sort of balance of nature?"_

 _Suicune turned towards Mewtwo, the Genetic Pokémon having become sort of an unofficial translator for group, not that he minded it all. In fact, he seemed to enjoy talking to all of them, Ash included._

" _She says that while they do maintain the balance, should a Legendary want, he or she may choose to go with a trainer, while the rest of the Legendries take care of their areas until another one is relegated the duties. She says you have already met the Lugia and her baby. That was one of the instances when a new Legendary was created so that it could take over her mother's responsibilities."_

" _What do you mean that Legendries are created?" Ash asked, astonished at having never heard that tidbit._

 _Suicune looked conflicted at that, and in the end shook her head._

" _She says that she cannot say any further on the matter," Mewtwo translated. "The amount she has disclosed is enough to get her in trouble."_

 _Ash backed off immediately, not wanting his friend to get into any further trouble, though there was still the question as to who would administer the punishment. He once again focused on the topic on hand._

" _Are you sure about this Suicune?" he asked, once more wanting the Pokémon to know what she was getting into._

 _In reply, Suicune nodded before once again rubbing her head with Ash's. Ash sighed, before smiling as he welcomed another new member into his family._

 _ **Flashback End**_

Ash smiled as he made way to the kitchen, ready to prepare the breakfast. It had become a good ritual between them. Ash would prepare the breakfast, allowing Delia to have a little bit of a sleep in. In the afternoon, Delia would bring him lunch to Oak's Corral while they would prepare dinner together. All in all, it provided more opportunities for the mother-son duo to bond further.

Creating a simple breakfast, he wasn't surprised to hear his mother enter the kitchen and blearily take a seat in front of kitchen table, a cup of black coffee already sliding in front of her that she drank almost robotically. Ash leaned back towards the kitchen counter, an amusing smile on his face, almost as if he was waiting for something.

That something happened not five seconds later, when the caffeine actively kicked in and Delia gave a blissful sigh. The dreaminess in her face evaporated in a moment, her jovial disposition reemerging as she took another sip.

"I don't know what you Ashy," she purred, "but you make this coffee so much better."

"I don't know what to say mom," Ash said, as he took the seat across his mother, taking a sip from the glass of orange juice he had poured for himself. "I just make it the way you showed me to. I don't know what you find so special." He himself had tried the drink once, and was in no hurry to try it again.

"So," Delia chirruped, though Ash did hear a slight solemnity in her voice, "have you decided who you are going to take to Sinnoh."

"Yup," Ash nodded, "Was up late at night deciding who was going to accompany me." And truly, it had been a hell of a decision for the 16 year old trainer, having to decide whom to take and whom not to. And while Professor Oak had increased the maximum carrying capacity for his team, something that he was immensely grateful about, it still meant that quite a few of them were going to feel left behind. Still, he knew that they would understand. Besides, he had already planned on switching them out on a regular basis so that he could spend time with each of them and personally oversee their training from time to time.

"So Ashy…" Delia began, a glimmer of mischievousness that was not missed by the sixteen year old trainer if the groan was any evidence. "Waiting to go on your journey with Daisy?"

Ash groaned further, burying his face in his arms as his face burned crimson as another memory surfaced.

 _ **Flashback – Two Months Ago**_

 _It was a warm morning as Ash made his way to Oak's Corral, his mother alongside him. Delia had completed making lunch early and with nothing to do at home, courtesy of Mr. Mime, had decided to join him for the rest of the day. Ash knocked on the door, waiting for it to be opened by Professor Oak or Tracy._

 _Only to stop short when he saw the person standing in front of him._

 _She was a woman, who looked at least a couple of years older than him. With long auburn hair that went down her shoulders, she had a beautiful, heart-shaped face that was enhanced by a pair of emerald green eyes. She was dressed in a green colored turtleneck and a white skirt that reached just below her thighs, showing an ample amount of leg. Over this, she wore a normal Professor's coat, which in Ash's opinion further enhanced her beauty. Finishing the ensemble was a tear shaped pendant that hung from her neck, down to her bounteous bust._

 _Ash immediately tore his eyes away from that area, having been already warned by his mother to not stare at a woman's bust for too long if he did not want to receive a thrashing. Focusing back on the face, it took him less than a second to recognize her._

 _Daisy Oak, chief research assistant to Professor Oak, and childhood crush of the black haired trainer and it was now he realized what he felt for her. She had relocated to Johto a couple of months before he had begun his journey, in order to do some research for the Professor, something that had pissed off said trainer a lot._

 _Ash stood there, mouth agape while his cheeks had developed hue on them. Delia smirked when she saw how smitten her son seemed to be of the young lady in front of them._

" _Hey there Daisy," she decided to break the awkward silence. "Nice to see you back in Pallet. Can we come in?"_

 _The inquisitive look on Daisy's face evaporated, and she gave a dazzling smile. "Good morning, Mrs. Ketchum," she said, as she stepped aside. "Come on in. You too Ash."_

 _Broken out of his semi-trance, Ash followed his mother as she entered the facility with a shit-eating grin on her face, while the young man himself blushed a deep crimson._

 _He just knew that his mother was going to milk this for all its worth._

 _ **Flashback End**_

"You don't have to sound like that mom," Ash griped as he lifted his head and looked straight ahead. He comprehended what his mother was trying to imply. She had seen him get flustered in the young researcher's presence and had never missed a chance to embarrass him.

"Yes, it will be nice to travel with Daisy," he continued, deciding not to pay attention to the way his mother was grinning at the prospect. It had been decided just a couple of days ago that Daisy would accompany Ash to Sinnoh, as she wanted to do some research on the Legendries of Sinnoh. And given Ash's tendency to run into Legendries gave her an even greater chance to come across at least a few of them.

Yes, she knew about Ash's adventures. After spending one month in Oak's Lab, with a lot of her time in the company of the black haired trainer, be it to help him study or for any other reason, Ash had decided to trust her with the knowledge about Suicune and Mewtwo, as well as his various adventures throughout the regions that he had visited.

Just like anyone who had heard of his escapades, she was baffled hearing about the number of life threatening situations he had been in. Said expression turned to one of elation when she heard about the numerous Legendries he had encountered. She was especially enraptured when he narrated the tale of Manaphy and The Temple of Sea, mostly due to the fact that the legendary was considered to be a Sinnoh native.

Her first meeting with Mewtwo and Suicune was somewhat shaky, mostly due to Mewtwo's inherent suspicion of the human race, but with continued effort and coaxing from Ash and the rest of the Pokémon, she was accepted by the duo. Her warm and caring nature further helped her blend in with the rest of the group.

Ash was happy that he got to travel with her. While he was not averse to travelling alone, he knew the joy of travelling in a group especially with people that he could call his friends. And he could damn well call Daisy a friend. He had asked Brock if he wanted to join in on the journey as well, but the breeder had declined the offer. The reason he cited that he had decided to become a Pokémon doctor and had been accepted in the institute that trained them.

Ash had stayed in touch with the young breeder throughout this time period, getting his advice on proper ways to take care of the different types of Pokémon, knowing that while Professor Oak had a much better knowledge base, he was generalized, whereas Brock adhered to each type on a different basis.

Ash, although he was sad that he wouldn't get to travel with his elder brother figure was nevertheless happy that Brock would get to achieve his dream. This meant that Ash had to journey alongside Daisy, not that he was complaining.

Finishing his breakfast, Ash dumped his plates in the sink, knowing that Mr. Mime would clean them up, he went upstairs to change one last time into the gear that his mother had prepared for the journey. Having already packed the essentials the night before, he was back in the kitchen.

He was dressed in new attire consisting of black, half-sleeved muscle shirt over which he wore a sleeveless burnt orange hoodie. Below this he wore sky blue cargo pants and a pair of black and grey sneakers. Finishing the ensemble was a black cap with a huge Pokéball drawn on its brim.

The serious countenance on his face, as he held his new backpack, was shattered when he was engulfed in a rib-shattering hug from his mother. Say what you will about Delia Ketchum, but her hugs packed a punch completely belying her petite frame.

"I cannot believe you are going away again," she mumbled into his chest, keeping back the tears from overflowing. "The past months passed by so quickly. I will miss you so much."

"I will miss you too mom," Ash sighed as he rubbed her back. "I promise that I will stay in regular contact with you. Besides you have the number for my Xtransceiver so you can call me whenever you want."

Just a few days ago, his birthday had passed by and he was surprised as hell when a party had been thrown for him at Oak's Corral. It was a small affair attended by everyone close to him. He was all the more surprised to find Brock and Misty present there. She had commented on how he had taken a good decision to train before beginning his new journey and how it was good to see him mature.

He had received several gifts including a Metal Coat and a Protector from Brock, an Xtransceiver from his mother, a Water Stone from Misty, a book on Sinnoh legends from Daisy, several of the sketches of him and his Pokémon from Tracy and the top of the line Pokédex from Oak. He had later been informed that the Dex was connected to Oak's central library and therefore could access data on all the data from all the regions, this making sure that Ash did not have to get his Pokédex updated in every region.

Professor Oak had commented on how the Xtransceiver was a new invention from the Unova region and how getting one outside of said region was supposed to be extremely difficult, not to mention costly. Delia had shrugged of the question saying that it was a family secret. Later that evening, Ash had asked the same question from Delia personally and it was then that he found out the answer.

He had been stumped.

Apparently, all the major corporations across the regions, including Silph Co. and Devon Enterprises, which provided the tools for Pokémon trainers, were in fact subsidiaries to one larger ghost corporation, Ketchum Inc.

The existence of said company was known only to the chairmen of each individual corporation, with all of them answering to the head of Ketchum Inc. namely Delia Ketchum. Delia had then explained to him how their family had handled all the various corporations from obscurity, never revealing their true identities to the crowd as no one would want one family to have such a large influence on the entire Pokémon world.

How she had always wanted to live in a small, quaint area and how she had decided to settle down in Pallet Town. By the end of the family history lesson, she had dropped the bomb by saying how he would be the one to take over her position as head when he reached the age of twenty-five and how he was currently the richest teenager across the regions.

Ash had spent the entire night awake, thinking back to all the things his mother had explained. It was then that he noticed how his mother never had to work yet there was never a shortage of funds for her usage. It also answered the question as to how his mother provided with the unending supply of Pokémon products at the beginning of his journey.

Back in the present, Delia rubbed away the tears from her eyes as she separated from Ash. "I will," Delia replied as she then rubbed away the non-existent dust from his hoodie, before straightening his cap. Ash, having spent a good amount of time around his mother knew that she was getting anxious, decided not to drag it any further.

"Mom," he began, "you know that you are welcome to spend time in the Corral. All of my Pokémon love you and enjoy your company."

"I don't think you could keep me away even if you tried honey." Delia replied with a smirk, before it morphed into a gentle smile. "Now, I know that ii cannot ask you to not help Pokémon. But I can ask you to be careful and look out for yourself. Can you promise me that?"

"I promise mom," Ash declared with a nod as he made his way towards the door. "I also promise that this time when you come to see me fight in the Sinnoh League, it will be to see me lift the cup."

Delia smiled further as she heard the conviction in his voice, and while she had heard similar declarations before, this time she knew that her son would accomplish it. She followed him outside as he waved Mr. Mime, who was cleaning the garden area, goodbye and made his way towards Oak's Laboratory.

He was just outside of her talking range when she took a deep breath.

"AND DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE YOUR UNDERWEAR!"

On the road, Ash face palmed at his mother's antics and increased his pace, not wanting to hear any further advice from said person.

"AND DON'T TRY TO TURN ME INTO A GRANDMOTHER SO EARLY!"

He ran, his face burning crimson, not wanting to hear the laughter that ensued. With his newly developed muscles, it did not take him long to reach the familiar laboratory. He knocked on the door, and did not have to wait as the door was answered by Daisy herself.

"Hey there Ash," she began, a smile forming on her face. "You ready for the trip?"

"Yup," Ash nodded as a similar smile formed on his face. "I was packed and ready to go last night. You look nice by the way." The last part was spoken with sincerity as he truly liked the way she had dressed. She had forgone the lab coat and decided to wear a simple turtleneck t-shirt, that clung to her bodacious frame, along with her white thigh length skirt. She had replaced her normal footwear for a pair of boots owing to the fact that she had to travel on foot.

"Aren't you the flatterer," she teased the young trainer, who gained a slight blush. Despite having grown accustomed to the researcher's company, there were still instances when the black haired trainer would blush at the comments from said woman, a state that was worsened now that his brain was aware of how his hormones were working. Still, he now knew that once his Sinnoh journey began, he would have to curb them as much as possible.

As she moved aside, Ash entered the facility and made his way towards the storage room, having grown accustomed to the surroundings while Daisy walked beside him.

"You decided whom you are going to take along with you?" she asked, all the while keeping her gaze ahead. "You taking any one of the new ones? And how many are you taking?"

"You betcha," Ash nodded as he finally made it to the storage room and took eight Pokéballs from his pile. "I wanted to take more but I decided that I'd leave the rest of the slots for any Pokémon that I capture over there. Besides, Mewtwo said that he wanted to visit the cloned Pokémon once and I am okay with that. He can then join us in Sinnoh."

"Who are you going to take then?" she asked, as the duo made their way towards the Corral.

"You're coming with me, aren't you?" Ash asked with a smirk, to which she nodded in reply. "Then you can simply see them. Anyways, I didn't see Professor in there. Is he outside?"

"Arse," she muttered halfheartedly ignoring Ash's muttering of 'language' before she went back to his side. "And no. Grandpa suddenly got a call from the League as they wanted to find out about Mewtwo."

A proverbial light bulb lit in his mind as he remembered how the Professor had spoken the previous night that he had registered Mewtwo into the Pokédex and how coincidentally he had been given the number 150, one right before Mew. He had further explained how the authorities at the League would most likely call him in the next few days to prove his claim.

"So who is looking after the Corral in his absence?" Ash asked, as he saw his group of Pokémon resting near the lake.

"Tracy and I," she replied without a hitch before gaining a thoughtful look. "Though now that he will have to look after everything."

"Don't worry," Ash waved her off, "he will manage. He has been here for a while. GUYS!"

His loud shout caught the entire group's attention, all of who immediately started running towards the duo. Daisy, knowing what was about to happen, got out of the way as the entire horde barreled into the young trainer, throwing him off his feet, a smile adorned on her face.

One would have expected to keel over in pain, but Ash merely started laughing as he eyed the group. Most of his Pokémon were there, including those Pokémon whom he had acquired in the last four months.

The smallest among them were Mudkip, the Mud Fish Pokémon and Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. He still remembered the conversation that had led to him owning these two.

 _ **Flashback – Two Months Ago**_

 _Ash had completed training his Pokémon for the day and had bid the Professor a good night when he was suddenly asked to wait by said person. He took a seat on the couch while Oak took the armchair opposite to him, a serious expression on his face. Just this meant that whatever the Professor was about to say was going to be crucial._

" _Ash," he began, "how are you training your Tauros?"_

 _The topic took Ash by surprise, before he bowed his head down. "It's been…difficult," Ash replied somewhat solemnly. "I try to give each of them individual time but always end up short somehow. Whenever I want to train the herd a new move I simply teach the leader first and he in turn teaches the rest of them. But still, it takes a while for me to remember the strength and weaknesses of each one of them."_

" _I see," Oak mused as he placed a finger on his chin. "It was as I thought," he muttered, just loud enough for Ash to hear. Directing his attention back to Ash, he continued, "Ash, let me be honest with you. And please don't take this the wrong way but I think there is no way that you can effectively train thirty Tauros." He raised his hand to stop the trainer from interrupting, "Hear me out will you." Seeing that Ash had once again deferential, he spoke further, "No matter how much you train them you will never utilize all of them. And I don't think that you want that to happen, do you?" Ash shook his head, prompting the Professor to continue._

" _The only way I see all of them getting their chance on the battlefield is if you trade a few of them with some worthy trainers. Now I know that you don't like trading but you have to see that no one is benefitting in the current situation. Trading not only gives you different Pokémon but it also provides your Tauros the chance to prove their worth in the battlefield."_

 _He sighed as he saw the conflicted look on Ash's face. He knew that Ash was utterly loyal to his Pokémon. He had heard from Brock how the young man had once traded away his Butterfree for a Raticate, only for him to trade back Butterfree not a couple of hours later out of guilt._

" _Ash," he said as he placed his arm on the young trainer's shoulder. "I know that this will weigh heavily on you should you go with my advice. However, I am not saying that you have to decide right this instant. Think this through. Ask different people for their opinion. Ask your Tauros what they think, you have Mewtwo to help you in that. If you decide to go through, I can use my sources to search for some good trainers who would be willing to trade their Pokémon for your Tauros."_

 _ **Flashback End**_

Ash had spent the next couple of days asking various people for their advice. Most of them were in favor of the idea. His mother had simply advised him to do what his heart said. He followed the advice and asked his Tauros herd if they wanted to go to a different trainer.

His heart was warmed when a majority of them wanted to stay with him while the rest of them wanted to one day lead their own herd someday and were okay with being traded away. Although he was sad in the beginning, he respected their decision and asked the Professor to find trainer with whom he could trade.

One month had passed from the day, and while the black haired trainer had gotten several offers he hadn't liked any one of them and declined. However, one day Oak had come to him informing him that a trainer wanted to give away his Mudkip and Ralts from the Hoenn Region.

When Ash asked why he would want to give away his starter, Oak had begrudgingly told him that the trainer had received Mudkip just one week ago and had caught Ralts not a day after. However, a tragedy had struck the young boy's family resulting in the sudden death of his father. As a result, the boy had inherited his father's farm, and since his mother was grieving he had to take care of it.

The problem had emerged when the Tauros in the farm were unwilling to obey to his orders and he had therefore asked Professor Birch if he could find someone who was willing to trade a couple of Tauros for his Pokémon, provided that the Tauros obeyed his commands.

Ash, being the sentimental person he was, got in touch with the trainer, who went by the name of Zacharias, and within the next few hours was the owner of a confused Mudkip and a shy Ralts.

As Ash turned his attention towards the back of the group, his attention turned towards his newer arrivals. A female Rhyhorn that he had captured from the Fuchsia City Safari Zone three months ago. Call it providence or what, but the young trainer was damn sure that she was the same one that he had wanted to catch when he had first visited the city during his first League. She was a somewhat shy Pokémon who was slowly breaking out of her shell, but still had a long way to go before she wanted to show any kind of affection towards her trainer.

Standing beside her, under the shade of a tree were two purple Ghost-Type Pokémon, one of them looking like a purple ball of has while the other had a humanoid look.

If one were to disregard the large eyes and the creepy looking smile that is.

The giggling pair were Gastly and Gengar. He had caught them from the Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower. He had initially wanted to go and ask Sabrina for Haunter, but realized that he had never caught the Pokémon and had therefore no right to it. After realizing that, he had decided to visit the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town in the hope of catching another Ghost Type. Imagine his surprise when he not only found these two, but that both of them were desperate to leave the Tower. Apparently they had gotten bored of pranking the trainers and had readily decided to join Ash.

Next to them was a Pokémon that he knew was a Sinnoh native. It was a feline, quadrupled Pokémon resembling a young lion with black and blue fur covering most of its body. Its ears, face, hind paws and front half of the body were blue while its hindquarters was black. It had a tufty black mane surrounding its head. The insides of its ears were yellow, a color matching its eyes. There were two yellow rings around each front leg and a yellow, four-point star on the tip of its tail. This Pokémon was Luxio, the extended fur on its hind paws showing that it was a female one.

Ash had been contacted a month ago by Norman, the Petalburg City gym leader informing that he wanted to trade a Shinx for one of his Tauros. Apparently, he had caught Shinx by mistake while on a holiday trip in Sinnoh. He would have kept the Pokémon, but he was primarily a trainer for Normal Type Pokémon. So, while he did train the Shinx for a few months he had started experiencing difficulties in training her.

It was around that time when he heard from Birch that Ash was looking to trade a few of his Tauros. Norman, knowing the kind of trainer Ash was, knew that the Tauros would be strong and had jumped at the opportunity to get a Tauros, which was considered to be among the stronger Normal Type Pokémon. Besides, he knew that Shinx would be trained nicely, having already seen Pikachu in action.

Therefore he had gotten in touch with Ash and not a few minutes later, the young trainer was the proud owner of a new Pokémon. Ash's delight was amplified two fold when Shinx evolved into Luxio not a week later. It seemed that the one week training with Pikachu, who had become sort of a mentor for the young Pokémon, was enough for her to cross the threshold required for evolution.

Shinx was not the only Pokémon who had evolved in the four months' time. Cyndaquil had evolved into Quilava, so had Corphish into Crawdawnt. He could feel that Larvitar and Bayleef were on the cusp of evolution and needed one incentive to do so. However the biggest surprise for the entire group was the surprise evolution of Bulbasaur. He remembered the incident clearly.

 _ **Flashback-Four Months Ago**_

 _Ash stood by the side, massaging his head in order to stave off the impending headache. Primeape had been dropped off by Anthony not fifteen minutes ago, and here he was picking up a fight with Charizard. And he could see that even Sceptile seemed to be primed to fight in order to prove his superiority. He just knew that the situation was going to be troublesome._

 _He moved to tell them to back off when Mewtwo's voice abruptly rang out. "Ash, someone is coming here."_

 _Ash immediately turned his gaze towards the entrance of the Corral. "You know what to do Mewtwo."_

 _Giving an imperceptible nod, Mewtwo's eyes glowed before he along with Suicune vanished from the spot, not even leaving a trace of them ever being there. And it seemed to be timed down to the second as a woman in blue police uniform made way towards the group._

" _Good evening, Officer Jenny," Ash made his way towards the now recognized police officer. His attention was momentarily distracted by the figure that was trying to hide behind said officer._

" _Good evening to you too Ash," Jenny responded while taking his hand to shake it. "You called to get Squirtle back didn't you?" Seeing his eyes lit up, Jenny smirked. "There is a surprise for you however." Seeing his confused expression, she continued. "I think it would be best if you simply saw it." Not giving any further indication, she stepped aside._

 _To a sight that made Ash widen his eyes in astonishment. As a matter of fact, several of the Pokémon behind him had a similar expression on their faces._

 _Standing in front of them was a bipedal, indigo blue Pokémon similar to a turtle. It had brown eyes, a dark blue streak on each cheek, and two sharp teeth protruding from its upper jaw. It had three clawed fingers and pointed toes. Bluish white fur covered its long ears and tail while a brown shell with a pale yellow underside encased its body. Finally a thick, white rim separated the upper and lower halves of the shell. This was Wartortle, the evolved form of Squirtle._

 _Seeing everyone's flummoxed countenance, Jenny decided to expound, "A few months ago, we were called to subdue a fire in an apartment complex. While initially it looked like we were succeeding, soon the fire at one of the levels went out of control. People were trapped inside so we redirected our attention to that level. However, no matter how much we tried we weren't able to restrain the fire and the Squirtle Squad, except for your Squirtle, were running on fumes."_

" _They were just about to collapse from exhaustion when Squirtle started glowing. And the next thing I know, he evolves and expels water at such a high rate that the entire complex fire was doused within the next two minutes."_

 _Ash marveled as he crouched down to the level of his fidgeting Pokémon, when Jenny added, "Though he has been skittish and somewhat morose for the entire time. Do you know why?"_

 _Ash gently stroked the Water Type, who leaned into the touch. "He was sad because he did not want to evolve. He had promised my Bulbasaur that he would stay in his base form just like him and now that he has evolved, he has broken his promise he thinks that Bulbasaur will not stay his friend any more. Isn't that right bud?"_

" _Wartortle" the Pokémon muttered, his head down in what he would have perceived as shame._

 _Ash was about to console the Pokémon, when something else caught his attention._

 _It was a bright light._

 _Everyone turned towards the direction of the light, and were stunned in silence with what they saw. It was the light generated when a Pokémon evolved. However, rather than the evolution generating the silence, it was the Pokémon that had caused such a reaction._

 _ **Flashback End**_

Ash smiled as he saw Wartortle standing beside Ivysaur. Ivysaur was a bluish-green quadrupled Pokémon with darker patches. Two pointed teeth protrude from its upper jaw, and it has narrow red to purple eyes. On top of its head were pointed ears with black inside. It had a short, rounded snout with a wide mouth while each of its feet had three claws on them. The bulb on its back had bloomed into a large pink bud that was supported by a short brown trunk surrounded by leafy green fronds.

Bulbasaur, showing that he did not care whether he had evolved or not and in order to show his support had decided to evolve himself. When he later asked the Seed Pokémon about his own resolve, Ivysaur had declared that he had grown as much as he could as a Bulbasaur and that he did not see any further growth for himself in that form.

His attention turned towards the final Pokémon who had evolved in the group. The Pokémon was encased inside a thick shell made of grayish-blue rock. Its red eyes could be seen through two holes in the shell, while two more holes were directly above resembling eyebrows. The upper portion of its body it was covered by a masklike plate with four large spikes on either side and three additional spikes protruded from its forehead. This was Pupitar, the evolved form of Larvitar.

The young Pokémon had trained day and night for the past four months, wanting to be Ash's strongest Pokémon and the outcome was discernible. Larvitar had shown the resilience to go the extra mile just to gain any new skill. As such, he had evolved just a few weeks ago which according to Ash was an accomplishment as it was known that it took the Larvitar line notoriously long time to evolve.

"All right, all right back off everyone," Ash implored the group and the group begrudgingly backed off. Taking a deep breath, he looked at them with a ear splitting grin on his face.

"You all don't know how proud I am of you," he began, and he could literally see most of them puff up their chest. He continued, "I know the last four months have been great for us and we all have grown. And now we are going to do our best to conquer Sinnoh. Are we not?"

The affirmative shout would have made a normal per on deaf, but Ash seemed to take it in stride. He continued speaking, "Now I know that all of you would like to join as I begin the journey. However, you all must understand that I can only carry a limited number. Even then I have to leave a few slots for any Pokémon that I will eventually catch in Sinnoh. So I will only take eight of you with me right now and regularly rotate so that each one of you spends some time with me."

Several of those whom weren't chosen were somewhat disheartened at not being picked by their trainer, however all of them were mature enough to know that even though he didn't choose them that didn't mean that he had forgotten about them. They were confident that they would help him in conquering a new region.

Although one Pokémon standing off to the sides seemed to have altogether another idea.

"You know Ash," Daisy began, in what he now recognized as her teasing voice, "you should start writing motivational books. If this small speech was anything to go by, I am sure that it will be a bestseller. I'm sure that if grandpa was here, he would have taken notes to publish in his books."

"It was nothing," Ash mumbled before he shrugged. "I spoke what came in my mind. Besides, if it makes my Pokémon happy I will happily do so again." He continued, as he turned to face the rest of his Pokémon, "Anyways, are you ready to go?"

"Pi Pika Chu!"

Daisy did not get to reply as Pikachu suddenly jumped on Ash's shoulder.

"Hey bud," Ash smiled as he rubbed his starter under his chin. "You ready to conquer Sinnoh?"

"Pikachu!" the Mouse Pokémon nodded with a pumped up fist.

"Yeah!" Ash exclaimed, his Pokémon's joy leaching into him. "I can't wait either." He turned back towards Daisy, and rubbed the back of his neck at her deadpan. "Ah, sorry about that. You ready to go?"

"Yup," she nodded, before frowning. "How are we going to reach Vermillion City? You do know that the ship leaves in the evening, don't you?"

"Of course I know," Ash grouched at the lack of faith. "And I have a plan by which we can reach Vermillion well before the ship leaves." Seeing that he had her undivided attention, he tossed two Pokéballs into the air, Charizard and Pidgeot appearing in a flash.

Being the smart person she was, it didn't take long for Daisy to realize what Ash wanted to do. She gave an ear-splitting grin before mounting Pidgeot while Ash climbed on Charizard's back, while Pikachu mounted on his regular spot.

Not waiting for any kind of reply, the duo launched into the air and made their way towards their destination, shouts of exhilaration emanating from both of them.

Turns out Daisy Oak is an adrenaline junkie. Go figure.

It was close to lunchtime when the duo landed on the outskirts of Vermillion City. Ash would have directly entered the city, but the appearance of two fully evolved Pokémon would have created some commotion, something that he didn't want. So, recalling both his Pokémon, they made their way into the city.

As they entered the city, Ash removed his cap to try, and fail, at giving his hair some semblance of order. He gave a quick glance towards Daisy, whose hair seemed to be immaculate as ever despite the high speed at which they were flying. He thought of any way that she could have done it herself and soon left it as a mystery that he had come to know as the opposite sex.

The duo spent the rest of the afternoon travelling throughout the city, before having a quick lunch at one of the roadside stands. They soon made their way onto the huge cruise liner, S.S. Anne, a slightly larger replica of the ship that had that had sunk nearly four years ago.

Ash shivered as he remembered that particular incident. He did not want to experience such a thing again. EVER. As they went towards their particular rooms, Ash couldn't help but feel excited about the new land that he was about to visit. The new adventures that he would have. And the new friends that he would make.

Too bad he didn't notice the trio that shadowed them as they had entered the ship. Equally bad for him was the fact that he had let Mewtwo go and visit his clone friends before joining him back in Sinnoh.

Still, as he decided to take a short nap, he couldn't help but feel eager thinking about the adventure he would have when the ship reached their destination.

In two days' time.

He just had to think of ways to spend the next two days in a ship.

He groaned.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Okay…it has been a while since I updated and I would like to thoroughly apologize for the delay in updates. I won't bother you all with the reasons and say that I'll try not to have this long a delay between chapters. That being said, I will not write anything before the month of May due to my upcoming exams and therefore, any update, be that for this fic or my Naruto fic will be in May.**

 **Now, thank you for the appreciation that you have shown. I simply cannot comprehend that just four chapters into the story and I have already crossed 100 reviews, 500 followers and favorites. Like any author I wanted the story to be well-received and had gotten my hopes up after the 2nd chapter. But to go from there to this in just two more chapters is something I didn't think would happen. So, once again thank you all for your support and I hope that you will give me the same kind of support in the future.**

 **Throughout the story I have received many reviews, many of them just a few short words while many were an in-depth analysis along with wishes. Quite a few of you did** **not like the way I started the entire thing as a sob story. However, no matter what anyone says, I like the way I started and it had been my vision to start a story like that ever since I read a couple of Sinnoh fics. One person, in particular, in his/her review pointed out that because I am an Indian I do not comprehend the fact that a person can apologize so much to someone and that a 13 year old does not know about sex.**

 **To that person, I can only say that it is his/her ass backward thinking that you people of a particular country can only think a certain way. If that would have been true, I would say that you are a fat, arrogant person who mooches off his/her parents' money if you are an American or other such shit like that.**

 **Yes, I belong to a country which is not so progressive in the matters of sex. So What? Does that affect the way I write? You must be an idiot if you think it does. I wrote Ash off as an idiot in the matter of sex because that is how I wanted him to be shown.**

 **And have you read some Japanese mangas? Have you seen the way Monkey D. Luffy acts when Boa Hancock does nothing short of throwing herself on him to show that she likes him? Or the way Shion asks Naruto to father her children and he agrees like it is no big deal? And yes, while I know that the fic is neither One Piece nor Naruto, it shows that the main characters are so engrossed in their respective dreams that they do not pay attention to girls around them. Luffy more so than Naruto, who at least shows some level of attraction to the females and even that is near negligible unless it was Sakura related.**

 **As for your rant about Ash apologizing to his mother, I showed that because I wanted to show the connection that Ash had with his mother. In India, we respect our elders. I don't know where you are from and how you treat your elders, but should I have been in Ash's place I would have done the same. You have to take it from Ash's perspective. Here is a mother who has single-handedly raised a child, as we shall never know who his father is. The son then goes on journeys across regions and barely calls his mother. Whenever he comes back to his town, he barely waits a couple of days before he is off to another adventure. And all the while, his mother is in the background supporting him, while she stays at home with just Mr. Mime for company. Now, put yourself in his shoes and ask yourself – "How many times would you apologize until she forgives him?"**

 **Your answer – "Not a single fucking time." She will know what her son wants to say and will be happy that her son will pay attention to him. That is the love that I have grown up in and that is what I wanted to show.**

 **If you have a problem with that, then go FUCK YOURSELF. No one has forced you to read the fic and no one will ever. That has been my stance on whatever fics I read and write. I won't read fics that I don't like. I may provide pointers where I think that the author can improve upon, but I won't spam bullshit as review. Neither would I use his country in a way to degrade him/her.**

 **Note: This is the updated part of the author's note. Quite a few people have said that it was wrong of me to say the part about the Americans. I want to clarify that I am not targeting, nor shall I ever, target one particular country or it's people. What I was targeting was the preconceived notion that people belonging to a particular country can only behave in a certain manner and have certain ideas. What I wanted to say was that just because there is a preconceived notion that sex is a taboo in India, doesn't make it true. Just like the notion that Americans in general are considered the above-mentioned things, doesn't make it true. It is that notion that I am against, not the people and certainly not the people.**

 **Another thing, people have asked me when Cynthia will be introduced into the fic. You all will have to be patient for that. Yes, I have stated that she will be paired with Ash. But the fact remains, I have tagged this fic to be an adventure, so any kind of romance will take a while. By the end of this chapter, you all will see that the Sinnoh saga has barely begun. So. bringing Cynthia in so soon will be way too early. I promise this though, she will appear way before she does in the anime. However, it won't be like those fics where she once lays her eyes on Ash and goes gaga over him.**

 **Now, sorry for the long rant, but I had to vent that out. A PM to the person may have seemed more effective, but I wanted this message to be read by everyone. The moment I read that degrading review, I knew that I would respond to that.**

 **Now, a big thanks to Omni-Creator Kami of Anime. While he is not my Beta, something that I am still searching for by the way, he has provided me with several ideas that I can implement in this story. When those particular events happen, I don't think that I can answer that myself. I only have a rough draft on how I want my fic to proceed, nothing is set in stone. I simply make it up as I move further.**

 **As stated by the rules in this website, I still don't own Pokémon. All the revenue goes to Satoshi Tajiri.**

 **On another matter, it sucks that Pokkén Tournament won't be available for other platforms. Was hoping that GameFreak would do so. Would have been a bigger hit. Well, what can you do?**

 **Anyways, on with the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **A New Journey Begins**

The world of Pokémon, a world filled with opportunities and aspirations. A world with legends and with people striving to be among these legends. Yes, there were people who used these Pokémon for their own nefarious means, but it was always eclipsed by the vast potential that mankind was capable of once they were partnered with these creatures.

It was to this world that twelve year old Dawn Berlitz had been invited to enter by Professor Rowan, the Sinnoh regional authority on almost anything and everything Pokémon. She had been jubilant when she had received the confirmation that she was among the handful of people who had passed the new standards required for getting a Pokémon.

Unlike most other Regional Professors, who simply sponsored new trainers based on their intuition, Professor Rowan conducted a comprehensive test that decided who were worthy of getting their hands on one of the rare starter Pokémon of Sinnoh.

So, naturally Dawn was ecstatic that she had passed the test and was capable of getting a Pokémon. She had already discussed with her mother, Joanna, how she wanted to become a Top Coordinator like her.

Only now, that seemed to look like a pipe dream as the young blue haired cowered in fear as she stood with her back to a tree, a small, blue penguin like Pokémon held closely in a hug, surrounded by a group of Ariados.

She thought back to the events that had let to that particular scene.

Earlier in the day she had been taken to the lab by none other than Professor Rowan herself when he had found her lost in the forests between Twinleaf Town and Sandgem Town. In the lab, the assistants had accidentally released the three starter Pokémon, who had seized the opportunity to run into the forest near the city. Dawn, being the good girl she was, had offered her help, something that the professor readily accepted seeing that his assistants were running around like headless chicken.

She had gone outside to search for the water type starter, Piplup. Remembering the small package that the Professor had sent her earlier she took out the cards containing the details on the Pokémon and gave a look over to the specific Pokémon.

Piplup was a light-blue, penguin-like Pokémon with a dark blue head with a primarily white face and a short, yellow beak. The dark blue feathers on its head extend down its back and neck, causing it to appear to be wearing a cape. It had two white ovals on its chest and a small, light-blue marking resembling a crown above its beak. It had flipper-like arms and yellow feet with three toes each.

She had searched for a while before she had heard a loud cry of pain from the forest had caught her attention. Running ahead, she had burst into the clearing only to find the Pokémon she was searching for, injured and surrounded by a cluster of Ariados. Despite feeling squeamish at the spider-like Pokémon, she had run to the defense of the injured Piplup.

Despite being injured, Piplup had shown great resolve and, along with Dawn, had been able to escape the small group of Ariados. Although Dawn could say that Piplup did not appreciate the fact she had come to help him. The duo had, through God knows how, somehow made it to Lake Verity and she would swear that she had seen the lake ripple and a mysterious figure appear for a second before vanishing.

She had not gotten any time to dwell on it when the Ariados had once again attacked Piplup and her. Already injured, Piplup had still put up a brave fight and protected Dawn from a String Shot by using Bide.

And it was now that she realized the conundrum that she had gotten herself into. She sat there, crouched in front of a tree surrounded by the vicious looking Ariados, all the while as she held the Piplup close to her chest not wanting any harm to come to the small Pokémon. She had cried out for help a few moments ago, but seeing that it had further antagonized the spider Pokémon she did not want to do so again.

She cringed when she saw the remaining cluster open their mouths and release a spray of white webbing towards the duo. She closed her eyes as the webbings were about to reach her, her mind hoping beyond hope for any miracle to save her, only to open wide in sweet relief as a loud shout ahead of her.

"PIKACHU, THUNDERBOLT!"

Ash took a deep breath, enjoying the aroma that was produced by the nature around him. He always enjoyed this smell. He felt as though nature itself was giving him encouragement for his journey. The last few times he had started his journey to a new region, he had felt it but never to this extent. He felt as though he could be like this for the next several hours.

"Come on Ash," the familiar voice of Daisy Oak came from behind the recently turned 16 year old trainer, "You have been standing there for the past five minutes. People want to get down and are starting to get irritated."

Smiling sheepishly, Ash rubbed the back of his head as he turned around to find that indeed a queue full of people were directing their annoyed looks at him.

"Sorry everyone," he apologized with a short bow, the lesson of etiquette his mother had taught him fresh on his mind.

"Pikachu!"

"Aipom!"

The two Pokémon sitting on his shoulder copied their trainer and gave bows themselves. Not wasting another moment, Ash ran down the ramp and took the first step into the new region. The excitement was visible on his face as he saw various Pokémon fly overhead.

Taking another deep breath, he let the cool air into his lungs. He could feel how the climate was different from the various port cities he had travelled to. In most places, Hoenn specifically, the ports had warm climate that made a person want to simply jump into the water. Sandgem City port, if you could call the small rest stop even that, had a cool breeze flowing through it that coincided with the facts that he had read about the region having a cooler than normal weather across the year.

"This journey is going to be amazing, isn't it?" he asked suddenly as he turned his attention to the two Pokémon sitting on his shoulder.

"Pi Pikachu!"

"Aipom!"

Both the Pokémon cried out their names as they felt the excitement that their trainer was exuding. Meanwhile, Daisy had walked up to Ash at a more sedate pace and was now standing beside the young trainer.

"Someone's seems a little too excited," the Researcher commented as she saw how he was talking to his Pokémon.

"You don't know the half of it," Ash replied, diverting his attention to his companion. "Usually by this time, Team Rocket try to steal Pikachu using one method or another, each of them being as ridiculous as their previous attempt. And you know the funny thing?" he asked, gaining a 'carry on' look from Daisy.

"We fall for it," he shook his head as he chuckled. "I mean, we come across them almost every day and they use the same tricks, either using a getup or some sort of machine to steal our Pokéballs, and we fail to recognize them until they reveal themselves. We fight them and rescue our Pokémon and in the process send them sailing away. It seems almost surreal that they haven't tried to capture Pikachu yet." He kept on speaking as the duo made their way towards the exit of the port.

As they exited the port, Daisy turned towards Ash with a perplexed expression.

"Hey Ash?" she began, getting the trainer's attention. "If you come across Team Rocket so many times and defeat them, then why don't you simply hand them over to the police?"

"You know," Ash replied after staying silent for several moments. "We never thought of doing that. Moreover, every time they were defeated, I don't know how but every time they get blasted off. And then the entire thing starts off once again."

Daisy simply stood there for a few moments, stunned at the lackadaisical response from the black haired trainer before making her way back to his side, shaking her head.

Being quite familiar with each other due to the long stay at Pallet Town the duo made their way along Route 219 towards Sandgem Town in comfortable silence, Daisy enjoying the fact that she had gotten the opportunity to travel along someone when she would usually travel alone while Ash was excited about meeting new Pokémon.

After traveling for a while on Ash's shoulder, Aipom decided to travel through the trees, using her tail-leg to swing from one branch to another. Ash was happy that Aipom was enjoying herself. He had been surprised in the ship once he had opened his backpack to find Aipom hiding in it. He had wanted to admonish her, but seeing the cute face that she made he couldn't resist her. He had called from the ship's telephone and gotten Professor Oak to send her Pokéball to him. He would have called her back but seeing that she was enjoying her stay outside he decided against it.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard Aipom crash into something, or rather someone, and fall down to the ground. Without giving another thought he ran straight towards her falling body and leapt forward, catching her before she could touch the ground.

Pikachu and Daisy caught up to him as he got back up.

"You alright there Aipom?" Ash asked the Long Tail Pokémon.

"Aipom!" the Pokémon replied with a smile on her face before glaring at the branch from where she had fallen. The group followed her gaze and were therefore surprised to find a Pokémon sitting on the branch.

It was a bird with a gray colored body, the lower half of its wings as well as its head black. Its face looked like it was wearing a white mask, with black eyes with white pupils as well as a thin orange beak with the tip of it painted black. On its chest is a white spot. Its feet are orange and also has three tail feathers, two black and one white in the middle.

Seeing the Pokémon puff up its chest, as though proud of the fact that it had thrown Aipom off, Ash decided to scan it using his new Pokédex. Taking it out, he pointed it towards the Pokémon.

 _ **Starly, the Starling Pokémon. It is barely noticeable when alone. Because they are weak individually, they form groups. However, they bicker if the group grows too big. Although they are small, they flap their wings with great power.**_

Ash decided then and there that he would capture it. The fact that it was alone and was drawing attention to itself meant that it was strong in comparison to others in its flock who would most probably hide when confronting a human. Yes, yes he would capture it. The question came, who he would use to fight it. His decision was made automatically when he saw that Aipom was still glaring at the bird Pokémon.

"Aipom." He called her out, getting Aipom's attention. "Get ready, for we are going to capture the Starly."

"Aipom!" the Pokémon cried in delight, wanting to get her revenge for making her fall down.

"Pikachu?" the small Mouse Pokémon asked from his shoulder.

"I am not using you bud cause we both know that it will be an overkill," Ash replied to the question, getting a nod from Pikachu. "Besides, Aipom is rearing to fight that Starly. Who am I to deny her?"

"Still," Daisy interjected, as the two people and one Pokémon took several steps back to allow space for the ensuing battle. "Don't you think this is too early in Sinnoh to capture a Pokémon?"

She had been informed by her grandfather about what Gary when he had started his journey in the Kanto. How he had caught basically any species of Pokémon he had come across, only for him to release them once he saw that he couldn't train all of them properly. And while she knew that Ash was compassionate enough that he would never neglect his Pokémon, she didn't want him to regret catching a Pokémon.

"Nope," Ash replied with a grin when he saw that the Starly had not left its position. Instead, it was looking at him, defiance etched into its face. Yup, he was going to capture it.

"Traveling so much, I have seen that most of the smaller bird Pokémon tend to be somewhat scared of confronting humans. The ones that I have caught have always been more defiant and you know how they come out to be. I sense the same kind of defiance from this one. So, I know that I am going to capture it."

Daisy did not get any time to reply as Starly suddenly took flight and flapped its wings, letting forth a huge gush of air that travelled towards Aipom. Recognizing the Whirlwind, Ash immediately countered knowing that the area covered by the attack would not allow for proper dodging.

"Aipom. Iron Tail into the ground." Ash responded evenly to the attack, his four months training finally coming to the forefront. This was one of the first things that he had rectified. He had seen various footages of past battles, including footage of past Elite Four members and Champions. He had seen how they stayed calm throughout the battle, not letting the others' actions affect their battle style.

"Aipom!" the Pokémon replied out loud, acknowledging her trainer. Not a second later, the hand at the end of her tail gained a metallic sheen. The hand then buried into the ground, right in time as the wind attack reached Aipom.

The Long Tail Pokémon brought its small paws forward to protect herself from the attack while the winds buffeted around her trying to blow her away, the Iron Tail being the only thing that kept her from being blown away.

Ash, Daisy and Pikachu had themselves shielded their faces from the dust and debris that was being pushed into their direction. All the while Ash was concentrating on the field, not letting the Flying Type out of his sight, no matter how much the dust prevented him to do so.

It was for this reason that he saw Starly streaking towards Aipom, a white beam of light following it along with a white sheen on its wings. Not wasting a second to applaud the Pokémon for combining two moves, he countered.

"Take it Aipom!" he ordered, his voice unwavering.

Aipom did not show any kind of affirmation as mere moments later the Wing Attack struck true and the Long Tail Pokémon gave a grunt as she was pushed back.

"Now, Revenge!" Ash countered immediately.

Starly did not have any time to think as Aipom struck it back, the Revenge even more powerful seeing that Aipom had been struck.

"Follow it up with Thunderbolt!" Ash decided to stay on the offensive and called out the super-effective move.

The reeling Starly did not get any more break before it was struck by a bolt of lightning that threw it back several feet. However, it still showed its tenacity as it stood back up, although barely before sparks surrounded its body.

Ash was visibly impressed by this bird. Aipom's Thunderbolt may not have been as powerful as Luxio's and it was nothing but a blip in comparison to Pikachu's, but for a Flying Type to get back up from it showed that he had taken the right decision to capture it. Seeing the spark that surrounded its body, Ash understood that it had been paralyzed and decided to capitulate on that.

"Finish it with Focus Punch."

The hand at the end of Aipom's tail glowed brightly as it ran towards Starly. Starly tried getting out of the way, but a sudden jolt of electricity ran through its body as paralysis took hold. It could only watch with trepidation as Aipom closed the distance between the two of them in a matter of seconds and struck with its tail, the glowing hand striking the Flying Type directly on its breast.

Starly gave a shrill cry before it was launched further ahead on the path. Ash ran ahead of the group and not missing a moment took out a ball and threw it at Starly, who by now was lying on the middle of the path with swirls in place of his eyes.

The ball, which had a pink colored upper half in place of the standard red, struck the downed Pokémon before sucking it in a red beam of light.

The entire clearing went silent as the ball twitched, Starly showing one last act of defiance before it eventually dinged, signifying a successful capture.

Ash was silent for a moment before he scooped Aipom up in a crushing hug.

"You were great Aipom!" he exclaimed, getting a bashful yet proud look from the Pokémon.

"Pi Pika Chu!" Pikachu congratulated Aipom.

"Well done Aipom!" Daisy too decided to congratulate the Pokémon who by now had a light blush on her face due to all the attention she was getting.

Ash gingerly placed her down before giving her a look over.

"You aren't injured, are you girl?" Ash asked, knowing that the Wing Attack must have hurt a bit.

"Aip Aipom!" Aipom shook her head in negative. While she knew that the attack had struck true, it wasn't as powerful as those of Ash's Pokémons. Even then Ash decided not to take any kind of risk and quickly took out a potion and sprayed it on the area where the attack had struck.

Aipom winced at the cold feeling from the medicine before numbness spread across her chest. She then took a nice breath once she felt the healing nature of the potion take effect.

Daisy crouched down and gave Aipom a final look over, searching for any other kind of injury as Ash made his way towards the motionless Pokéball sitting innocuously in the middle of the path. Picking it up, he brought the Ball close to his mouth before giving it a gentle kiss.

"Welcome to the family Starly," He spoke tenderly. As he made his way back to the group, he saw that Daisy had finally gotten back up from the inspection of Aipom was now waiting for him.

"Not going to heal it immediately?" Daisy asked as he got close enough to her.

"Not right now," he replied. "I want to let the Heal Ball do everything naturally for the first time. I want to introduce it to the rest of the team, but that can be done once we reach Professor Rowan's lab."

Daisy nodded, having already known about the new kind of balls that increased the natural rate at which Pokémon healed. She, along with Oak, were one of the few people that knew about the true identity of Ash and his mother and was therefore not surprised when Ash had told her that he would be bringing along the newly developed Balls with him.

"In the meantime…" Ash once again took out his Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokéball in his hand.

 _ **Starly, the Starling Pokémon. It is barely noticeable when alone. Because they are weak individually, they form groups. However, they bicker if the group grows too big. Although they are small, they flap their wings with great power. This Starly is Male and has the abilities Keen Eye and Reckless. Reckless is a Hidden ability. This Starly knows the moves Tackle, Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Double Team, Whirlwind and Detect. Detect is an egg move and is currently locked.**_

"That is a good move set," Daisy commented, knowing that it indeed was good for a Pokémon in the wild, especially one like Starly.

"That it is," Ash nodded in support. "Detect is a good move and will unlock most probably once he evolves. I am more surprised that he has two abilities."

Daisy and Pikachu nodded in consent. They both knew that it was rare for a Pokémon to have more than one ability, especially if one of them was a Hidden one. Out of all of Ash's Pokémons only three of them had unlocked their Hidden abilities, four if they now counted Starly.

Shrinking the ball and placing it on his belt, Ash and Daisy once again started to make their way back towards Sandgem Town. Pikachu decided he wanted a break from Ash's shoulder, decided to jump on Daisy's giving free reign of Ash's shoulders to Aipom who decided not to miss out on the chance and took her place.

As they were on their way, Daisy came closer to Ash.

"You did notice that we are being followed, didn't you?" she whispered, genuinely feeling uncomfortable by the fact.

"Yes, yes I did." Ash replied in an equally low voice. "Aipom already informed me. The purple hair is not a good camouflage either."

"Do you know who it is?"

"Nope," he replied. "We could simply ask him to show himself or wait until he decides that he has done enough hiding."

"What if he is dangerous? Or is hiding so he can get the opportunity to steal our Pokémon?" she pressed on.

"Between the two of us, I doubt that he has any Pokémon that can take us all out," he assuaged her doubts with a gentle shrug. "If worse comes to shove, I can call Mewtwo for help."

Daisy visibly relaxed at that. She had not met any Pokémon that could take the Genetic Pokémon in a fair fight. Just the thought that the Pokémon was once under the control of Team Rocket gave her gooseflesh. She could only deliberate about the sinister things those people could have done had Mewtwo still been under their control.

She was brought out of her thoughts once she saw Pikachu perk up before the Mouse Pokémon jumped off her shoulder and ran in the direction opposite to their direction. Reflexively, Ash ran after his first Pokémon, knowing that his friend would not have done so without a proper reason.

Aipom, deciding that she was faster in the trees, jumped off his shoulder and started using her tail-arm to swing from one branch to another. Daisy followed the duo, running at a slightly slower pace as she was unaccustomed to running around so much.

She vaguely noticed, as they made their way through the forest, that they were now way off their previous path to Sandgem Town and was seriously hoping that whatever had caused Pikachu to act that way was important.

Her request was answered when she heard a shrill cry for help. Ash turned around for just a second before giving her as small nod. He did not wait any further before barreling further into the woods, leaving Daisy and Aipom behind, who now was keeping up with the young Pokémon Researcher.

Ash barreled into the woods, barely keeping up with Pikachu who was now running full sprint, dead set on saving the girl, if the shrill cry was evident. He saw the tree line ending ahead of him, most probably signifying a clearing and was most probably the place from where he had heard the shriek.

As Pikachu and he finally made it out of the trees, he came across a situation that he had faced far too many times. A group of Ariados were surrounding a girl who was clutching a blue, bird Pokémon close to her chest as she herself was crouched in front of a tree.

His attention was once again diverted to the Ariados once he saw them tittering before what he could see was them opening their mouths to most probably attack the girl and the injured Pokémon. He decided he was having none of that.

Seeing his friend ready for action, he shouted out loud,

"PIKACHU! THUNDERBOLT!"

"PIKA…CHU!" the small mouse Pokémon let forth a huge bellow, one that was quickly followed by a wide bolt of yellow electricity that belied the small Pokémon's stature. The bolt stuck the cluster of Ariados who did not even get the opportunity to turn around and face the shout that they had heard.

Ash could only sweatdrop once Pikachu let go of the attack not five seconds later. He had been intending to scare them away by the light jolt of electricity. He had already informed Pikachu to tone down his attacks while fighting wild Pokémon or else capturing good ones would be way too easy and he would not get a chance to gauge their aptitude.

However, it seemed that he would have to be more careful while having Pikachu fight wild Pokémon if the current result was any kind of indication of what the outcome of the battle would be.

The small cluster had definitely fainted, if the swirls in place of their usual purple-black eyes were any indication. They had multiple scorch marks on their bodies courtesy of the attack. Ash felt bad, his inherent feelings towards Pokémon making him feel bad for the Pokémon. However, this feeling was curbed when he remembered that they had were going to attack a person, a girl nonetheless.

Speaking of the girl, he turned his attention to said person only to find her gazing at him, the intensity of the gaze making him slightly self-conscious. As he made his way towards her, carefully side-stepping the downed Ariados, he gave her a look ever.

He could see that she was at least a couple of years younger than him, maybe more. She was dressed in an outfit that resembled a mini dress, consisting of a black V-neck top with a white undershirt with a short pink skirt and a red scarf. On her head, she wears a white beanie with a pink Pokéball print on it. She also wears gold hair clips that hold up her hair in front. On her feet, she wears pink knee-high boots with black over-knee socks underneath.

"You alright?" he asked softly, once he was close enough.

The girl merely nodded in affirmation, still in a state of astonishment. He was about to go further when Daisy entered the clearing, followed quickly by Aipom.

"Did you find her-?" she came to an abrupt halt as she saw her companion crouched in front of a girl, who in turn was cradling another Pokémon in her lap. She sighed in relief when she saw the downed Ariados before her gaze turned towards a sheepish Pikachu who was rubbing the back of his neck. Aipom ran up to her trainer and jumped to take her customary place on his shoulder.

"Didn't you say that you were going to take it easy on the wild Pokémon?" she asked teasingly as she made way towards the trainer and the girl, Pikachu jumping on her shoulder as she reached close to him.

"I was," Ash defended himself before looking away in embarrassment, "I just didn't think that they would faint from just one of Pikachu's Thunderbolts. I was merely trying to scare them away."

"Ash, just because you are accustomed to Pikachu's attacks doesn't mean that anyone else can do so," she decided to tease him further, her inherent playfulness coming further.

Grumbling to himself, Ash turned back towards the girl, who was still sitting with her back to the tree, and presented his hands to her, "You know you haven't answered my question. And would you like me to heal your Pokémon?"

Dawn, who finally seemed to have gotten over the shock that someone had saved her, gingerly took the offered hand and got up, all the while cradling the injured Piplup in her other hand.

"Piplup is not my Pokémon," she spoke softly, her attention entirely focused on the injured Pokémon she was holding. "But could you please heal him?"

Not waiting for clarification about the Piplup not being her Pokémon, Ash opened his backpack and took out a Hyper Potion from the medicine section and sprayed it on the visible injuries first, the Pokémon hissing in discomfort before the meds started having their effect and he visibly relaxed. He followed it up by spraying the rest of the body until the entire thing was depleted, before storing the case in the trash section.

Dawn sighed in relief one she saw that the injuries were already vanishing, the potion helping complementing the Pokémon's inherent healing prowess. She then turned her attention to the two people who were now giving her speculative looks.

"Anyways, my name I Ash Ketchum," Ash decided to introduce himself. "And these are my Pokémon, Pikachu," he pointed towards the small Mouse Pokémon who was sitting on Daisy's shoulder.

"Pikachu," said Pokémon replied with a wave of his hand and a smile on his face.

"And Aipom," Ash continued while pointing towards Aipom who was now wearing one of the old caps that he used to own. Aipom, being her boisterous self, happily waved her arms, all three of them, at the girl.

The girl replied by awkwardly waving her hand in reply.

"And I am Daisy Oak," Daisy was the last to introduce herself as she went forward and shook the girl's hand.

"Hi, I am Dawn Berlitz," Dawn finally introduced herself to the group that included the person who had saved her from the Ariados. Speaking of which, she turned her attention towards the small cluster who were still lying there on the ground. "What is going to happen to them?"

"Don't worry about them," Ash waved her off as he reached the group and started spraying Potions on them to help their healing process. Not enough for them to revive them instantly, but enough that they would heal quicker than normal. "The potions will heal them quick enough and they will be back on their way."

"Now," he turned back towards Dawn, "could you please tell us what you were doing alone in the woods? And why you said that the Piplup doesn't belong to you?"

Dawn immediately explained to him and Daisy how she had gotten herself in the situation, even telling them how she was a new trainer and wanted to be a successful Coordinator like her mother, Johanna.

Ash and Daisy listened to Dawn with rapt attention, the young trainer making eye contact several times with his starter as how similar the entire incident was to their own beginning.

Satisfied with the answers they received, the group started making their way back towards Sandgem Town. Luckily for them, Ash's Xtransceiver was able to find out the closest path for them, causing their journey to be relatively shorter. Ash and Pikachu were the most relieved with this, knowing how the trainer was abysmal with paper maps.

They eventually made their way to Professor Rowan's Lab. Daisy was especially excited, given the fact that she had already met the Professor back when he was working with her grandfather.

Ash was rather awed by the modern looking modern looking and large lab that was behind the boundary. They entered the gate and made their way down the cobbled path to the lab entrance.

They were quickly ushered in by one of the aides of the Professor, who was delighted to see that Piplup was safe, albeit a bit ruffled. He was about to take the small Pokémon to get him thoroughly healed when Ash took the opportunity to ask for them to heal his Starly as well. Without any hesitation the aide took Starly as well. Something which Ash was extremely gracious about.

Finally, they went into the room where Professor Rowan was present. The first thought that crossed Ash's mind when he saw the Professor was 'intimidating'.

He had known the Professors of all the regions he had travelled, and most of them looked rather jovial if not downright amusing. Dressed in a rather formal attire of black pants, white shirt with a blue overcoat and a tie, he seemed quite normal man. It was his face and the mien that gave the intimidating factor. His white hair and the rather elaborate moustache gave off a very stern aura.

That particular thought went out the window once the Professor looked towards them, his eyes shining with recognition once he saw Daisy and Dawn. Daisy went up to the Professor and shook his hand.

"Professor, it's nice to see you again." From the tone of her voice Ash could see that they both knew each other quite well.

"You too Daisy," the Professor replied in a caring voice that was a contrast of his demeanor. "I am surprised to see you here. Samuel did not inform me that you too were coming."

"He wanted my visit to be a surprise." Daisy replied in a slight mischievous voice.

"I'll tell him it was a good surprise." He then turned his attention towards Dawn, who seemed surprised with the small banter between the two people. "Ah Dawn, it is nice to see you back safe. Did you have any trouble finding Piplup?"

"Just a little Professor," she replied with a small wince. Seeing the Professor's raised eyebrow at that comment, the young trainer recounted the entire incident at the forest. The Professor seemed quite surprised that the young girl had been able to command Piplup by herself and proud that his Pokémon had been able to hold off a group of Ariados by himself.

His eyebrows went straight into his hairline once Ash's part in the rescue was brought, more specifically the part where one Thunderbolt from the small Mouse Pokémon not just defeated but outright fainted the group of Ariados. His opinion of the trainer grew even further when Dawn informed him how the young man, whom he knew was Ash, had healed not only Piplup but also the group of Ariados.

After the short retelling, Rowan turned towards Ash.

"I would like to thank you, young man," he clapped Ash on his shoulder, who smiled bashfully in return. "You don't know how relieved I am that you not only protected Piplup but Dawn as well. Should anything have happened to her, I would have only blamed myself."

"No need to thank me Professor," Ash replied to the praise with a timorous scratching of his cheek. "I did what any other person would have done."

"On the contrary," Rowan pressed, "I know that many would have taken this as an opportunity to capture the Ariados instead of healing them."

"I did not want to capture them because they did not interest me," Ash shrugged nonchalantly. "As for healing them, I did not want to leave them at that state. They were in that state because of my Pokémon. Healing them was the least I could do."

"It is good to see that there are trainers like you out there Ash." Rowan commented, genuinely happy with the trainer. "It seems that whatever I have heard from Samuel about you is indeed true."

"Professor Oak talked about me?" he asked, surprised about that little tidbit. While he knew that the Professor had put word out about his Tauros, he did not know that he talked about him.

"Yeah, he told me how you were going to come to Sinnoh and asked me to see if you needed anything." Rowan replied, skipping over the fact about how his long term friend was practically gushing over the trainer's capability.

"Anyways, can I help you in any manner?" Rowan asked the trainer.

"No, thanks Professor," Ash replied, "your aide is already looking after the Starly that I caught. I only need to get myself registered for the Sinnoh League and that I know can be done from the Pokémon Center."

"Good, good," Rowan nodded, "it is nice to see trainers that already have an idea about what they need to do. Now," he turned towards Dawn, who jumped as the attention was back on her, "the last time you came here was to get a Pokémon, didn't you?" Getting a vigorous nod as reply, he continued, "Then let us get to it."

Not waiting for a reply, the Professor left the room and entered the lounge area, quickly followed by the group. Reaching a desk containing three different Pokéballs, Rowan turned around.

"In the morning you saw the three different starter Pokémon that I had," he declared to the blue haired girl, who nodded in reply. "So, have you made a decision as to who you would like as your first Pokémon?"

Rowan knew that it was nothing but a formality, as he was quite sure about who the new trainer would pick as her starter. Adventures like the one Dawn had created bonds that were nigh impossible to break. So, yes. He could easily say he knew who the girl was going to pick.

"I would like Piplup as my starter," Dawn spoke as firmly as she could, not wanting to show how excited she was about finally getting her first Pokémon.

"Alright then," Rowan nodded in affirmation before picking up the ball placed in the middle and gave it to Dawn. He then went to the computer placed behind him which after a few moments of typing ejected a pink, rectangular shaped device.

"This is the Pokédex," he handed the device to Dawn who held the device with utmost care. "Its primary function is to provide you with the data for whichever Pokémon you scan. For Pokémon that you own, it will show you some extra information that you won't get from either a wild Pokémon or from another trainer's Pokémon. Aside from that, this is also a proof of your identity as a trainer. So, keep it safe as it will allow you to register into the Pokémon League and the Grand Festival."

Dawn nodded fervently, already pocketing the handheld device. The Professor then handed her one last thing.

"This is a set of standard Pokéballs used to capture a Pokémon." He handed her six standard red Pokéballs which she again placed into her bag.

"Now, the only thing that I can give you is advice. I know many people say that going on a journey is fun. And while it is true, it is fun only if you are responsible. You are allowed to travel the world with the expectation that you will take care of the Pokémon that you capture. You must learn from today's experience that not everything is fun out there. If you want to achieve something you must strive to hard to achieve it. That doesn't mean that you must not enjoy your journey as you go towards your destination, for no matter what one says half the fun in a journey is from the journey itself. As long as you trust your Pokémon and believe in yourself you can achieve great heights."

At the end of the monologue, there was pin-drop silence as the group contemplated what the Professor had said.

"You took that for grandpa's poem didn't you?" Daisy decided to break the silence by pointing out the small bit of information.

"Figured that out, didn't you?" Rowan slumped, generating much sniggering from the people and Pokémon present.

"Grandpa gave me almost the exact same speech when I got my first Pokémon," Daisy replied with a grin.

"I've been using it for a while," Rowan added with a shrug, "it acts as a good speech for beginner trainers. I may not be that good at coming up with speeches like Samuel, but that doesn't mean that I cannot use them to motivate people."

Everyone nodded at that, knowing how new trainers went through a myriad of emotions once they gained their first Pokémon. Meanwhile, one of the aides handed Ash the Heal Ball that contained Starly informing him that the Pokémon had been healed completely.

Thanking the aide, Ash turned towards Rowan.

"Professor, do you have a place where I can bring Starly out? I wanted to welcome him to my team and talk to him once."

"Sure Ash," Rowan nodded. "Why don't you use the front area? It is quite open and will provide Starly with an open area." He diverted his attention towards Dawn, "Why don't you do the same thing Dawn? While I know that Piplup and you have already met, it will be good for the both of you to formally introduce yourselves to each other."

"All right Professor," Dawn replied in an affirmative and quickly followed Ash who was already making his way outside, Pikachu having retaken his place at his right shoulder, while Aipom was on his left. Daisy and Rowan followed behind, Rowan intrigued by the trainer who was so highly spoken by someone like Samuel Oak.

Making their way out to the front area, nobody noticed as Pikachu's ears twitched and he mumbled something into trainer. Reaching their destination, Ash threw the Ball into the air.

"Come on out, Starly!"

The Starling Pokémon materialized, immediately taking into the air. After a few flaps of his wings, he landed in front of his new trainer. Ash crouched down to look straight into his eyes.

"You know Starly," he began, "when I first saw you, I knew that you were going to be my Pokémon. The way you held yourself, the way you stood there unafraid of a trainer, the way you looked at Aipom as though challenging her, I knew that you were going to be a good Pokémon."

Meanwhile, behind him the entire group was listening with rapt attention to the small speech that the 16 year old trainer was giving.

"I see not just Samuel has a way with words," Rowan was the one to comment, visibly impressed with the way Ash was welcoming the new Pokémon. Very few trainers he knew would talk like that to their Pokémon.

"You haven't seen the half of it," Daisy commented, her attention fixed on her friend, not wanting to miss one of those moments. "I have observed him for the past few months and there is one thing that I have seen him do. He speaks to his Pokémon with so much conviction that his Pokémon get motivated to do their best. You can say that he energizes them to do their best and that gains him their loyalty and love to an extent that I don't think many can emulate."

Dawn simply stood there, taking in the words from the trainer.

Back with Ash, he continued, not noticing the effect that he was having on the people, "I know that you are already good, but I promise you that with my help and the help of my other Pokémon, I can help you become great. Not just a trainer-Pokémon pair but as a pair of friends. So, what do you say? Would you like to be my friend?"

"Starly!" the Pokémon did not wait another moment and jumped on to his new trainer's head, the only place that he could find had space for him.

"If that is your answer, then welcome to the family Starly," Ash welcomed his newest Pokémon into the fold with a wide smile on his face.

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu emulated his trainer with gusto.

"Aipom!" An enthusiasm which even Aipom was demonstrating.

Ash turned around to find the attention of the group focused on him. He smiled bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "Ah sorry about that. I guess I got a little carried away."

"On the contrary Ash," Rowan refuted. "It was good to see such conviction from such a young trainer. And your speech was a delight to hear."

"It was nothing Professor," Ash continued, still embarrassed by his short-sightedness. "I just spoke what came to me from my heart."

"And that is what made your address a delight." It didn't look like Rowan was ready to back out yet. "Because a good address is not one which you memorize and repeat, but one that you speak from your heart." He looked at Starly, who was now sitting on Ash's head and was having a conversation with Pikachu and Aipom. "And the result of that is visible. Though I have seen Starly getting close to their trainer, I have rarely seen one that becomes so close in such a quick time."

"I just try to make my Pokémon as comfortable as possible," Ash continued albeit weakly, having already been through this kind of conversation with people back in his town.

"Regardless, it is a nice trait that not many trainers exhibit," he stated and without giving Ash another chance to speak further decided to change the topic of discussion. "It looks like Dawn is going to let Piplup out."

Seeing that the small discussion was over, Ash and Rowan went over to Dawn who was holding Piplup's Pokéball in her hand. They had just reached her when Dawn threw the Pokéball.

"Go, Piplup!" she called out her starter with excitement that had replaced the nervousness that was there a few moments ago.

The Pokémon materialized in front of everyone and stood there, looking at everyone with confused expressions on his face. Taking a couple of deep breaths, assuring herself that she could do this, Dawn approached the Pokémon.

Piplup visibly perked up once he saw the girl he knew approach him. Already having an inkling about the situation, the proud Pokémon waited till the girl closed in on him and crouched down to his level.

"Piplup," she began, "I know that we did not have the best of starts. And I know that I may not have looked that much to you when you first saw me. But after what we have been through, I feel that we can make a great team. So, would you like to join me on my journey?"

"Piplup!" the Pokémon nodded with a sharp cry, bringing his arm front. Dawn, getting what the Pokémon wanted, clasped the small arm in a handshake.

"All right Piplup," Dawn exclaimed, happy that the Pokémon was ready to work with her. Getting back up, she took out her new Pokédex and pointed it towards Piplup, wanting to know about her Pokémon.

 _ **Piplup, the Penguin Pokémon. It doesn't like to be taken care of. It's difficult to bond with since it won't listen to its Trainer. This Pokémon is Male and has the ability Torrent. This Piplup knows the moves Pound, Growl, Bide, Peck and Bubble.**_

"That is a good move set for a starter, Dawn," Ash suddenly called out from behind her making her jump up a bit in surprise.

"Damn it Ash," she huffed after getting her breathing back in control. Meanwhile, Piplup puffed up his chest at the comment from the other person. "Don't sneak up to me like that." Getting an apologetic shrug, she continued, "And why do you say that?"

"Generally whenever you receive a new Pokémon, he/she knows at two, at most three, moves. Your Piplup not only knows five, but two of them are Water and Flying Type. And that will help you in catching wild Pokémon much more easily."

"Oh!" was the only reply at that, genuinely surprised at this. Quickly getting rid of the surprise, she decided to do something that she wanted to do ever since she had decided to become a Coordinator.

"Ash, I would like to challenge you to a Pokémon battle."

Everyone present, bar Piplup, was looking at her with a shocked countenance.

"Alright," Ash shrugged after a few minutes of shocked silence.

"Just like that?" Dawn was befuddled when Ash replied to her in positive. She had known that Ash was a much more experienced trainer, with the way he treated his Pokémon and the ease with which his Pikachu had defeated the Ariados, and had thought that he would try to decline her, most probably by saying that he was probably too experienced for her or give her reasons like that.

"Yup," Ash answered. "I never turn down a challenge for battle. Moreover, it will give me a chance to battle with Starly while you will get one with Piplup in a more controlled manner." He turned towards Rowan, "Professor, do you mind if we use this area as a makeshift battlefield?"

"Sure," Rowan waved him off, having gotten used to this. Smiling in a manner that Ash found eerily similar to that of Professor Oak, the regional professor continued, "The front lawn is made for this specific purpose. You all won't believe how many times new trainers have asked me this question."

Ash gave the area a once over and realized that yes, the area looked to be tailor-made for Pokémon battles.

With an excited thanks, Dawn scampered towards the farther end of the field, while Ash made way towards the closer end, only to be stopped short by Daisy.

"Ash," the trainer stopped short to look at his companion, who was looking at him as though she was waiting for something. She sighed while muttering about battle-crazed idiots before she went close to the trainer.

"As the officiator, it is my duty to ask you to carry at most six Pokémon during any battle, official or unofficial," she spoke lowly, getting an embarrassed smile from Ash who rubbed the back of his neck. Not thinking much about it, he unclipped four Pokéballs and gave them to the young Researcher, who then went to stand on the sidelines as she took the role of the official of the battle.

Meanwhile, Rowan was surprised with the fact that Ash had submitted Pokéballs to Daisy. A moment later he realized the reason for this particular action, and this further raised his interest in the trainer. He knew about the rules regarding increasing the carrying capacity for trainers. What made him curious was the fact that Oak had allowed the kid to do so.

Having known the Kanto Professor for a long time, he knew that the person was not easily impressed. So for such a young trainer to be allowed this. He shook his head at the thought. He knew that he would have to keep a look out for this one.

Back at the field, both competitors stood facing each other, Dawn with a nervous excitement evident on her face while Ash stood on his side, his excitement hidden by his composed persona.

"The following battle is between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Dawn Berlitz of Twinleaf Town." Daisy's firm voice rang through the field. "Both the sides will be using one Pokémon each. The winner of the match shall be decided when one trainer's Pokémon is unable to continue. Are the terms clear?"

"Absolutely," Dawn replied with a shout while Ash gave a subtle nod.

"Then…Begin!"

"Piplup, Battle Dance!" Dawn shouted exuberantly.

"Go, Starly!" Ash called out in a calm manner.

The two Pokémon materialized, with Piplup crossing his arms under his chest in a haughty fashion while Starly took into the air, before finally coming to a stop before Ash.

"Piplup, start with Bubble!" Dawn called out loud, having decided not to give any chance to the more experienced trainer. Piplup followed his trainer's order to the letter and let forth a several bubbles which travelled to the Flying Pokémon at a decent pace.

"Send it back towards Piplup with Whirlwind Starly," Ash countered immediately. The Starling Pokémon flapped his wings several times, the force of the winds produced from the action being strong enough to send the bubbles back towards their originator.

"Dodge Piplup!" Dawn commanded in a panicked voice, having been surprised by the way her own attack was now being used against her. "Use Peck to burst those you can't dodge."

Piplup leapt across the field, his beak elongating a bit with a glow. He dodged the bubbles that he could, while those he couldn't dodge were burst using the Peck attack.

"Quick Attack, Starly!"

Piplup had barely escaped from the small minefield of bubbles when Starly reached him in a streak of light and crashed straight into his chest. Piplup gave a yelp as the attack threw him back several feet. Pushed back by the force of the attack, he nevertheless got back up, ready for more.

Dawn, who had panicked when the attack struck, was brought back when she saw Piplup get back up without the attack having much effect on it. Sure, Piplup looked like someone who had been struck hard, but she could still see that her Pokémon was ready for more.

"Double Team!" Ash commanded and Starly responded not a second later as close to two dozen copies of the Pokémon surrounded Piplup. The Penguin Pokémon flustered, unable to distinguish between the real and the images, the panic that was imitated by Dawn as she thought of ways to counter the attack.

Ash was happy the way the small battle had gone so far. He liked the way Starly was responding to his calls and the quickness he showed in using his attacks. He was especially happy with the number of copies that Starly had created, showing the near mastery of the technique.

He saw the way Dawn and Piplup reacted the way to Double Team and knew that the attack had worked. While experienced trainers knew ways to counteract the move, new trainers would generally get panicked when coming across it. He himself had been stumped quite a few times with this attack and he knew that Dawn would be all the more confused, given that it was her first official battle.

"Wing Attack and increase your speed with Quick Attack," he continued in on the assault.

The wings on all the Starly glowed white as they flew towards the still panicked Piplup, a white beam of light trailing behind each one of them.

"Surround yourself with Bubble Piplup," Dawn shouted in alarm.

Piplup did not waste any time and formed several bubbles before spinning on his spot, the barrage of bubbles now surrounding the Water-Type.

Ash was surprised with the sudden call of Bubble. He had not expected a new trainer to find a way to counter that attack. Still, he knew that Starly would overcome it.

"Form groups of six and attack from each side," he countered.

The copies of Starly, showing their usual quickness, formed into four groups and dashed towards the wall created by bubble.

Dawn stood there befuddled as the four groups attacked the wall from the different directions, the images dissipating as they got closer to Piplup. She was confused as to what Ash was trying to do, when she heard bubbles pop as one particular group closed in on Piplup. She cursed as she understood what the trainer had done.

She had recognized the group in which the real Starly was present, but the way the group was tightly packed did not allow her to find out who the real Starly was. The group was reduced to just three Starly by the time they had reached Piplup, however, she knew that one of them would strike him/

"Piplup, Bide!" she shouted in desperation.

A red glow surrounded Piplup, not a second too soon as the remaining Starly reached the Pokémon. The first two images went straight through Piplup without causing any kind of damage. The last one though, struck with his glowing wings, the momentum of the Quick Attack causing Piplup who let forth a huge squeal, after which he was thrown into the air and crashed near Dawn as he let .

"PIPLUP!" she shouted, scared for her first Pokémon. She wanted to run forward and forfeit the match, knowing that her Pokémon was injured. But the dust cloud that had formed from his crashing did not show if he had fainted or not and she did not want to forfeit, knowing that it would be a blow to Piplup's pride if she did so and then it would be near impossible for her to get the Pokémon to listen to her.

Her fear did go unfound when the dust cloud dissipated, as she could see Piplup standing there, his body glowing red from the Bide attack that he had prepared. His body sported several injuries and he was breathing quite heavily, the previous attack having taken a lot from him. But the proud Pokémon was still ready to give it his all.

Ash was surprised when he saw the dust cloud dissipate. He had not expected to see Piplup standing after the attack. Any other starter would have been defeated by then but Piplup was still standing and that increased the respect for the small Pokémon.

"Starly, once again Wing Attack and power it up with Quick Attack!" he commanded, not wanting the Pokémon to gather enough energy to unleash Bide. He knew that at full power, it might even defeat Starly.

Starly once again streaked through the field towards Piplup, his wings glowing as it left behind a glowing trail.

"Piplup, intercept Starly with Bide!" Dawn called out loud, hoping that her Pokémon had stored enough energy to make the final attack count.

Piplup ran towards the incoming Starly, still glowing red as it kept on storing more and more energy.

Dawn stood there nervously as the distance between the two Pokémon decreased, hoping against hope that Piplup emerge victorious from the battle. On the opposite end, Ash stood there calmly although there was an undercurrent of anxiety in him as well. He thought of any other way that he could counter Bide, but came up short mostly due to the fact that at his current level Starly did not have that many options, leaving him only with a direct confrontation.

"PIPLUP!"

"STARLY!"

The moment of opportunity was gone as the two Pokémon clashed into each other, the red Piplup colliding with Starly, who had his wings fully extended. The collision was immediately followed by a small outburst of energy as Bide took effect. The outburst was followed by a huge gust of wind that travelled to both the sides, kicking up dust and not allowing anyone to see the result of the strikes.

Dawn had to hold on to her dress in order to prevent it from getting ridden up by the wind, while Ash on the other hand was not so ruffled by this.

As the winds died down, both of their attention was once again redirected towards the center as the dust cloud slowly dissipated, both the trainers wanting to know the result of the clash.

They did not have to wait long as Starly flew out of the cloud and up into the air. He soon changed his trajectory and flew back towards Ash, who by now had an ecstatic grin on his face. Ash could see that the Pokémon was barely able to keep in flight and had several injuries on his body showing that the Bide had struck true.

The reason for said grin was explained when the dust settled down not a few seconds later, showing Piplup laying on his back with swirls in place of his eyes.

"Piplup has fainted and can no longer continue," Daisy announced from the sidelines. "The winner of this match is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

No sooner was the announcement done, did the two trainers ran towards their Pokémon. Ash caught Starly right before the Flying Type could fall to the ground, the final wisp of energy leaving his body.

"You did great, Starly." Ash said, ecstatic with his Pokémon.

"Star Starly!" the Pokémon let out blearily, although Ash was sure that if the Pokémon could smile, he would have.

"Rest nicely Starly, you definitely earned it." Ash smiled and took out Starly's Pokéball and tapped the Pokémon lightly, the ball sucking Starly in a red beam of light.

Placing the ball on his magnetic belt, the trainer walked towards Dawn, who was cradling Piplup in her lap.

"You did great, you know," Ash commented when he saw how downtrodden she was.

Sending Piplup back into his Pokéball, Dawn stood up. Ash saw, rather felt, how depressed she was at her defeat.

"But you defeated me so easily," she said, her good mood having taken a huge dive.

"That's not true," Ash encouraged her. "Had I given Piplup enough time to gather more energy for Bide, I doubt Starly would have been able to endure it."

"And it doesn't matter that Starly is his new Pokémon," Daisy interjected, truly feeling bad for the girl. "Ash has been battling with Pokémon for a long time, so he has way more experience in handling himself and his Pokémon in battles. The match was set as soon as you asked for a battle. The only way for Ash to lose would have been to make a mistake or get too cocky, something I know that he will not do."

"But how much experience could he have? He doesn't look that much older than me," Dawn asked, befuddled by the fact that how far the gap was between the two of them.

"Look at it this way," Daisy stated, before her companion could get a word, "Just four months ago, this idiot went on and won the Battle Frontier and is in fact the first trainer to do so. He was in fact offered to become a Frontier Brain himself, but declined it because he wants to become a Pokémon Master. And I can tell you, some of the Brains are just a level short of the Elite Four."

Dawn's eyes widened at the fact. Even a level short of the Elite Four was a huge deal in and by itself and to have defeated even one trainer at that level was an accomplishment for someone as young as Ash. And the way she had framed the sentence, it meant that he had defeated more than one trainer of that level. She was about to comment on that, when another voice came from behind them.

"You defeated Brandon?"

Dawn turned around abruptly at the voice, only to swivel back when Ash responded, his voice way too jovial.

"So, you finally decided to come forward?"

Dawn was thoroughly confused with the small back and forth, a confusion that was deepened when she heard Daisy mutter 'Finally' with a sigh.

"Huh?' A confusion that was shared by the person opposite to them.

* * *

 **I know.**

 **Many of you might hate me for the cliffhanger. But what can I say? I love cliffhangers. Don't worry, there won't be many.**

 **Anyhow, I know many of you can easily tell who the person is going to be. So, the next chapter is going to be the first serious battle for the fic. In fact, I have already finished writing the chapter and was going to upload it simultaneously. But re-reading it made several mistakes clear to me that were not visible while writing, so it will take a while to re-edit it. And as I have already stated, no writing before May. So, you will have to wait for it.**

 **Now, one final thing. I know many of you have asked for Ash to simply decimate Paul and show him his place. In short, many of you want Paul to be bashed.**

 **That, unfortunately, is not going to happen. Though I may be into some bashing fics occasionally, the fact remains that I will never bash a character. I will show them the way they are portrayed but I will never purposefully just concentrate on their negatives. As far as the battle between Ash and Paul goes, you all will have to wait for the next chapter and see how the battle goes. I will try to stay true to Paul's character and show him as the competent trainer that he is. It was said in the anime that Paul had competed in the Indigo League, the Johto Silver Conference and the Hoenn League, so I will try to portray him as one who has been in the above contests and not act like a newbie that many of you want. I hope that it doesn't deter you all from reading the story any further.**

 **As any other writer, I hope you all like this chapter.**

 **And in the words of the creator of ,**

 **REVIEW!**

 **Ja Ne!**


	6. Chapter 6

**The author's note is at the end of the fic for those of you who would like to read it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 6**

As the newcomer tried to get his slight sputtering under control, Ash took that as an opportunity to give him a look over.

The boy, he could say was at most a year or two younger than himself. He was dressed in a manner that suited traveling, his grey cargo pants and the sneakers showing that he was at least accustomed to traveling as a trainer. He wore a purple colored sweat shirt over a black undershirt that matched the color of his hair.

The person's eyes narrowed as they looked at him and Ash recognized the way that they focused on him. Ash could feel the derision in this newcomer's face. How, for some reason, he thought that he was above him. He had seen that look on Gary's face several times and how that look hadn't changed until he had defeated the now Pokémon Researcher.

"And what do you mean by that?" the newcomer inquired, his cold, apathetic voice grating on Ash's nerves, not that he showed it.

"I don't know if anybody has informed you this," Ash sighed before giving the yet unnamed trainer a serious look, "But stalking is considered an offense. We-Daisy and I that is- knew that you were following us since we left Route 220. And now, you ask something of me without showing the common courtesy of even giving your name. Sorry if I don't sound too… affable."

"Wow Ash," Daisy exclaimed with a mirthful grin on, not paying attention to the trainer at the door. "Affable? I wasn't aware that you knew such big words."

"Oh my God can you just be cool? Once? Please? Just once? Can you just once be cool? Once? Please?" Despite the petulant sounding protest, the only change in Daisy's face was the widening of the smile, eliciting another sigh from the young trainer as he slumped his shoulder in defeat. "Here I thought you were supposed to be on my side."

He then turned his attention towards the newcomer and was not surprised to find that the trainer was barely able to keep his eyebrows from twitching. Deciding that he had had his fill of hazing, he turned back towards the person.

"Sorry about that," Ash commented although he did not look even the least bit apologetic. "Anyhow, I think it will be better if we introduce ourselves. My name is Ash Ketchum and my cohort over here is Daisy Oak. Now, could you kindly tell me who you are and why you were stalking the two of us ever since we left Route 220?"

As the rest of the people present in the room openly gaped at the seriousness in Ash's voice, the person present on the door shook his head.

"First of all my name is Paul," he spoke, his voice carrying a cold baritone that looked as though it suited him perfectly. "Secondly, I would like to apologize if you thought that I was stalking you as that was not my intention." Ash could feel half-hearted nature of the apology and sighed inwardly as he gained a suspicion the kind of person he was.

"But my question still remains. I think it is very unlikely that a trainer who looks at most a couple of years older than me can defeat someone like Brandon." Paul continued, unaware of the thoughts going through Ash's head.

"So, you are saying that I was lying just a few moments ago?" Daisy interjected her voice so still that it scared even the Professor who standing behind her.

"Um…no." Paul replied with nervousness that he tried to hide under pretense of false bravado. "I was just saying that he can simply go along saying things like that and people will more than likely believe him. But I still don't believe that he could have defeated Brandon."

"And why do you think that I am lying?" Ash asked, now getting angry due to the insinuation of him being a liar. He had won those matches through sincere hard work and the help of his friends and here was a trainer who had the gall to say that he was lying.

"Because I have seen Brandon fight." Paul reasoned dismissively, "And from the small fight that you had with the Starly, you don't seem competent enough to defeat someone of his caliber. Even now, your fight with this new trainer showed how weak the Starly must be if it took so long to defeat the Piplup. And a person who doesn't capture a strong Pokémon from the get go cannot defeat someone like him."

Having already met people like these, he knew the best way to deal with them. And while it may be in contradiction to what he would usually do- challenge them for a Pokémon battle at the top of his lungs- he had gotten better at controlling himself.

"Believe what you want." Ash waved him off deciding not to get bothered by this upstart's words. "I know I have won the Battle Frontier and have the evidence to prove so. What you think of me and my Pokémon does not interest me at all. The only thing that matters to me right now is the fact that no matter what happens, no matter what hurdles I have to cross, I will be the one to win this year's Lily in the Valley Conference."

"Please." Paul scoffed, "as if some loud mouth like you can win the Sinnoh League. You are just someone who likes to brag without the skill to back it up. If anything, I doubt that you will be able to get past the second round and not even that if you face me first."

"Oh yeah." Ash growled, an action that was copied by Pikachu, while Aipom and Daisy glared at the person who was going on antagonizing their companion. "Care to back those words up?"

"Are you sure?" Paul seemed skeptical as he folded his arms while leaning against the door. "Do you like to be humiliated in front of your girlfriend?"

"I don't think there is any kind of humiliation in defeat." Ash replied, getting another scoff from Paul. "But I know someone like you will not see it like that. You know that you want to battle me as well, so can we please stop procrastinating dialogue and get on with it?"

"Your funeral then," Paul shrugged as he entered the lawn and took the space that was not so long ago occupied by Dawn whereas Ash retook his position.

XxX

"Professor?" Dawn began softly once she saw the two people take their position. She had been by the dialogue between the two trainers and having been around Ash for just a while, albeit for a very short while, she was surprised with the manner in which the entire thing had taken place. "What just happened?"

"It's something that you will see once you start your journey Dawn," Rowan replied as the duo made their way to the sidelines. "Many a times when trainers accomplish a lot in the in journeys, they start letting their success get over their heads. And while I know that Paul is a very accomplished trainer, he is underestimating Ash and I have observed that it never ends well for those who underestimating their opponents. Even when you were fighting Ash I saw that he never underestimated you and that I can easily say is the mark of a great trainer."

She was about to further question the Professor when Ash's voice rang through the makeshift battlefield.

XxX

"How do you want to go through with this?" he asked, his eyes not leaving the purple haired trainer.

"Four on four with no switching? The person with maximum wins is declared the winner." Paul replied, not at all intimidated by Ash.

"Sure." Ash answered in reply before he gave Daisy Starly's Pokéball and switched it with another one.

"The following match is between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Paul of…" Daisy began as she retook her place after giving Ash the Pokéball that he wanted.

"Veilstone City."

"Veilstone City. This will be a four on four battle with no substitutions allowed. Both competitors please send out your first Pokémon."

"Go Pokéball!" both the trainers shouted, the thrown Pokéballs releasing their respective Pokémon.

Paul's chosen Pokémon was a bipedal Pokémon resembling a chimpanzee. Its fur was primarily a shade of orange, though its face, outer ears, underbelly, hands, and feet were light yellow. Its rear had a small, round, red patch that was obscured by flames. Its ears were larger in comparison to its head size and red inside along with two pointed teeth in its upper jaw. It had red markings nearly surrounding its eyes, a swirl-like symbol on its chest, and five fingers on its hands with three toes on its feet. Finally it had a swirly crest of hair on its head.

Not recognizing the Pokémon, he scanned it with his Pokédex.

 _ **Chimchar, the Chimp Pokémon. Its fiery rear end is fueled by gas made in its belly. Even rain can't extinguish the fire.**_

"Chim!" The Chimchar appeared with a determined look on his face, the fire on his tail burning brightly.

XxX

Meanwhile, Dawn scanned Ash's Pokémon, having not recognized it either.

 _ **Quilava, the Volcano Pokémon. Quilava is the evolved form of Cyndaquil. Quilava keeps its foes at bay with the intensity of its flames and gusts of superheated air. This Pokémon applies its outstanding nimbleness to dodge attacks even while scorching the foe with flames.**_

"Quilava!" The volcano Pokémon too appeared with an excited shout of his name, flames alit on its back and the top of his head. The four months of training had helped Cyndaquil reach his threshold of strength and had led to its evolution not too later after that. The evolution had helped the shy Pokémon get out of his shell.

"It is going to be an interesting battle," Rowan commented, his attention thoroughly fixed on the battlefield.

"How can you say Professor?" Dawn asked, the Professor's words titillating her.

"Firstly, both Quilava and Chimchar are Fire-types so no one has a specific advantage over the other. And secondly, Fire-Type moves are generally rather ineffective against Fire-Types, so with just this battle we can see how both of them have raised their respective Pokémon and how well they can utilize their moves all the while it will show if the trainers had the forethought of training their Pokémon in something other than their own element."

Her attention was once again diverted back to the field as Daisy was the person to speak this time.

XxX

"Are both the trainers ready?" Daisy questioned the trainers, getting identical nods as reply. "Then begin!"

"Ember!" Paul was the one to begin the proceedings by issuing the command for the weak Fire-type attack. Nearly a dozen fiery embers flew across the field at Quilava at a moderate speed, the number of flames indicating the proficiency that the Chimp Pokémon had with that particular attack.

"Use Swift to counter the embers and then cover the field with Smokescreen!" Ash commanded in reply.

Quilava did not waste another moment as multitude of stars raced towards Chimchar as the two attacks collided against each other, the collision creating a small cloud of smoke. The smoke-cloud had barely been formed when one side of the field was covered by another cloud of smoke, one that was pitch black, blocking the entire view for Paul, who narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Use Ember across the entire field." He commanded, using the smoke to hide the trajectory of the attack.

Chimchar once again let loose several small embers strewed across the entire field hoping to get his opponent and hopefully get the first strike, the last attack having been effectively countered.

Paul waited in anticipation as Chimchar finished its salvo, the lack of any kind of sound from the Smokescreen indicating that the attack had missed his opponent's Pokémon, something that made him want to furrow his eyebrows in annoyance.

Meanwhile, Ash smirked as Quilava acted just as they had practiced many a times in Pallet Town. Even though the smoke was blinding his view of Quilava, he knew that his not-so-shy Pokémon was in the correct position and therefore decided to get on the offensive.

"Eruption!" he commanded, his tone belying his zeal at the outcome of one of the most powerful Fire-type attacks.

"Get out of there!" Paul barked in reply, having an idea as to where the attack was going to come from. Chimchar tried to sense the telltale signs for the attack, his type giving him an advantage in identifying Fire attacks, yet failed when he couldn't sense anything and hence decided to simply jump into the air with the hope that the attack would pass beneath him as all Fire-type attacks usually do.

"Not up, you damn Pokémon!" Paul cursed loudly as he saw his Pokémon's folly. He did not get any chance to rectify that mistake as the ground underneath Chimchar suddenly burst upwards, a column of scorching fire shooting afterwards towards an airborne Chimchar.

"Char!" Chimchar cried out in pain as the strong fire-type attack struck the Pokémon. Now, usually a fire-type attack would not have affected the Pokémon that much. However, Eruption carried with it a large amount of rocks and debris that was the main cause of the pain.

The force of the attack caused Chimchar to shoot up several meters into the sky, before the force of gravity acted upon the Chimp Pokémon and caused him to descend towards the ground before crashing with a loud thud.

"Get back up, you waste of space!" Paul shouted at the small Pokémon, getting Ash to divert his attention at said trainer. He could see the way Paul was glowering at the Pokémon, who much to his surprise, was slowly getting back on his feet. Despite its determination Ash could see that the last attack had struck hard and the Pokémon was standing up, barely though it may be. There were several areas on his body that had been burned by the attack while there were severe bruises caused by the wreckage that had followed in its wake.

"Finish him off with Wild Charge." Ash commanded, his attention now focused on his opponent. He wanted to see how the trainer would respond to that. He was getting very bad feelings about this particular trainer, feelings that reminded him of several people that he had met across his journeys.

Surrounding himself in electricity, Quilava dashed towards the injured Chimchar fully intending to finish the short match when suddenly a torrent of fire engulfed his body. Ash was startled by this sudden attack, the surprise abating as he saw the Pokémon himself.

Chimchar's eyes had gained a reddish tint to them while the small ember on his tail had turned into a roaring inferno, while a spiral of fire was being emitted from his mouth. He could see that even Paul was surprised by this for a brief second, but was immediately replaced by the confident sneer that he had seen before. It quickly dawned upon him what had happened. Having studied extensively for the past four months, he immediately grasped the fact that the small Pokémon had the ability Blaze that had activated as it was near defeat. The ability giving the Pokémon an extra boost to his fire-type attacks. This also meant that he would need only one good strike to really finish this battle.

"Inferno!" Ash shouted and in the next moment spiraling beam of bluish-purple fire shot through the Flamethrower, overpowering the attack in a way that widened the eyes of everyone present in the vicinity. Paul barely had any time to utter another command when the fire engulfed the small Pokémon, Chimchar crying out in pain as the intensity of the fire and the secondary effect of the attack took place and inflicted a severe burn on the Sinnoh starter.

Paul gritted his teeth as the stream of fire was finally brought to a halt, only to reveal what he had already guessed. Chimchar was out, swirls having taken the place of his eyes. He turned his eyes towards the dissipating cloud of dust, one that had kicked up when the Flamethrower had struck hoping -futile though it may be- that the attack had at least caused some damage to his opponent's Pokémon.

His eyes widened as the smoke finally dissipated to reveal Quilava who looked as though he had hardly taken any damage, the only sign showing that he had participated in a battle being the dirt on his body from the Dig that he had used in the battle.

"Chimchar is unable to battle." Daisy's declaration ran across the clearing. "The first round goes to Ash Ketchum and his Quilava. Trainers please send out your next Pokémon."

XxX

"What just happened?" Dawn uttered, her eyes wide with astonishment at the one-sided battle. "How is Quilava without any damage? The Flamethrower struck him, didn't it? I didn't see Quilava dodge the attack."

Rowan gazed at the field in contemplation, before realization dawned upon him.

"So that's how it is…" he uttered in his usual, serious baritone.

"What is it Professor?" Dawn asked, a small amount of impatience making way in her speech.

"You should learn to be a little more patient Dawn," Rowan commented, getting a flustered sorry from the rookie trainer. "As a trainer you will need it in your journey. Nevertheless, what I meant by my previous statement, and this is merely a conjecture on my part, was that Quilava most probably has the ability Flash Fire that makes it not only immune to fire-type attacks, but also increases the power of its own attacks twofold. Add on the fact, Inferno, while being not a very reliable attack, is assured to burn the Pokémon it strikes. The increased power of the attack and the secondary effect were more than enough to take down Chimchar, who was already on his last legs."

"But…how?" Dawn asked, doing an excellent impression of a fish outside water. Shaking her head in disbelief, she took several breaths to get herself under control. "He finished the match in just four attacks." 'And this is the person I fought not five minutes ago,' the latter part spoken to herself.

"Actually, it was five moves," Rowan corrected Dawn. "He used the Smokescreen as a cover so that Quilava could use Dig."

Dawn thought about the entire battle and realized the truth behind the Professor's words. She remembered the Smokescreen, but just like everyone else Quilava's movements were hidden from view. The next thing she remembered was the shout of Eruption followed by the attack. The attack that came from beneath the ground. She tried to recall when Ash had given the command. Only…she couldn't.

"But… he never gave the command for Dig!" she almost exclaimed.

"Ah, now you see the capability of a trainer that has won something like the Battle Frontier." Rowan commented, before continuing. "You will find very few trainers who are connected to their Pokémon to such a level that many a times a vocal command is unnecessary. Just a slight hint, no matter how small, can spur the Pokémon into action. To see someone of Ash's age achieve something like that is simply remarkable." By the end of the small explanation, Rowan's voice had lost some of its usual severe tenor and had gained a small amount of admiration in it.

"Yes…remarkable," the blue-haired girl mumbled, astonishment visible on her face. Yes, she had studied a lot about Pokémon and had seen many battles and contests, her mothers' being predominant, but seeing something happen on tape and seeing something of such high level with your own eyes was on a whole different level.

XxX

"Great job bud. Now take a rest." Ash gave a soft smile as Quilava gave a shout of happiness and made his way to stand behind Daisy. He then turned his attention towards his opponent who simply took out his Pokéball and recalled Chimchar.

"Pathetic," Paul spat vehemently, as he glared at the Pokéball, loud enough that everyone present in the clearing was able to hear him clearly.

Ash bristled as he got another proof regarding the kind of trainer that he was facing. He did not have to look towards his partner to know that even he was disgruntled by the kind of behavior he was showing, the sound of sparks emanating from his cheeks were indicators enough.

"You want to shut him up, bud?" he asked, getting a growl in reply from his starter.

"Then you're up Pikachu."

"Pi Pika Chu!"

"Go Pokéball!" Paul's voice came out at that precise moment as he threw his Pokéball, a yellow Pokémon emerging from it.

Its round body had black colored stripes on it, with arms comparatively bulky in comparison to the body, two black stripes on each arm along with three claws in place of fingers and black colored legs with rounded, toeless feet. It had two horns on top of his head with holes in them, making them resemble the prongs of a plug com, complete with holes in their sides. Finally, it had a black lightning bolt marking on its chest, two rows of stripes near the marking with the pattern continuing around its lower back.

XxX

Dawn scanned the new Pokémon with her Pokédex.

 _ **Elekid, the Electric Pokémon.**_ _ **Elekid stores electricity in its body. If it touches metal and accidentally discharges all its built-up electricity, this Pokémon begins swinging its arms in circles to recharge itself.**_

"What the Pokédex hasn't informed," Rowan interjected, catching Dawn's attention, "you is that Elekid is a native of the Johto region and is considered among the more powerful of pre-evolved electric types across the regions. They evolve into Electabuzz and eventually into Electivire who are powerful electric types if trained properly."

XxX

Back on the field, Ash and Pikachu focused their attention on their opponent. The self-satisfied smirk on the Pokémon's face and the way he crossed its arms across its chest spoke either of arrogance or utter self-confidence.

"This one is going to be tough," Ash muttered, just loud enough that his partner could reply with a subtle nod.

And Pikachu agreed with his friend. Unlike the Chimchar, who seemed to be lacking in self-confidence and was most probably a recent acquisition, this one looked as though he had faced the heat of battle and was accustomed to fighting. Being one of the most experienced in the group, Pikachu could feel that Elekid packed power belying his stature and while it was not anywhere close to what he had, it was still commendable.

"Are both trainers ready?" Daisy asked, once again getting a couple of nods from the trainers. "Then begin!"

"Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded his starter, Pikachu responding by letting forth a loud shout of his name as a yellow bolt of concentrated electricity burst forth form his body and travelled across the field. Ash narrowed his eyes in suspicion when Paul did not give his Pokémon any command to evade the attack.

His suspicion turned into surprise when Elekid started rotating his arms as the attack reached near the Pokémon, that surprise turning into shock when the attack struck true without causing any visible damage.

"Swift!" Paul commanded his Pokémon taking advantage of the momentary shock on his opponent's face. Nearly a dozen star-shaped projectiles formed in front of the Electric Pokémon and flew towards Pikachu at a tremendous speed, each of the projectile taking a different route as though they had a mind of their own.

"Use agility to evade them!" Ash replied, having gotten out of the shock at having his precious attack having no effect. He decided to ponder on this as Pikachu skillfully evaded each of the projectile in an impressive display of speed induced acrobatics. He had seen the Thunderbolt strike the Pokémon, yet the attack instead of doing any kind of damage had fizzled. His eyes narrowed in realization as he understood what had happened.

"Screech!"

And just on time as Elekid let forth an earsplitting scream that made everyone cover their ears from discomfort.

"Thunder!"

Ash's eyes widened as Elekid once again rotated his arms and let forth a bellow of its name as a lightning bolt larger than the one Pikachu had previously created shot towards the Mouse Pokémon and was upon him in an instant, the Pokémon still disoriented from the previous Screech.

"Charge through it Pikachu!" Ash shouted at his Pokémon. Showing complete faith in his friend, Pikachu opened his eyes and ran straight into the Thunder, his teeth clenching from pain as the attack struck through. The attack harmed him but he had bet hit by attacks far more powerful than these and could therefore endure more of such.

As the agility powered Pikachu ran straight through the attack, Ash saw that the power behind the attack had diminished corroborating his theory. Seeing that Pikachu had covered quite a lot of ground between Elekid and himself, Ash enacted his plan.

"Volt Tackle!"

Paul watched as Pikachu burst through the Thunderbolt at speeds that few would have thought that the small Pokémon was capable of before it was engulfed in a field of electricity, the element creating a dome shaped structure in front of the Mouse Pokémon as it left behind a trail of itself.

Even the others present were looking at the attack with awe, Dawn having not seen an attack like this before whereas Rowan could count the number of occasions having seen it on a single hand and even then that had been in the hands of trainers far more experienced than the person fighting in front of him.

"Protect!" Rather than getting affected by the attack Paul countered, and Elekid followed the command by producing a bluish-green dome of energy in front of him.

And just in the nick of time as Pikachu collided with the dome, his face scrunching up in determination as he used the momentum of the attack and pushed with his might hoping to break the energy barrier. Meanwhile, Elekid grunted in exertion as his face lost the previous haughty expression which was now replaced by one of utter focus as he tried his best to keep the shield up.

Even that proved to be a nearly unsurmountable task as the power behind the Volt Tackle pushed him back several paces, nearly making him lose his concentration. But in the end the small Pokémon persevered and the shield held against the attack

"Feint!" Ash commanded, once he saw that the attack was not going to penetrate the shield. Pikachu's paws glowed brightly as he punched through the near impenetrable shield and shattered it in the next instant before it closed in on Elekid.

"Block it with Brick Break!" Paul countered immediately. Elekid's arm gained a similar glow as it intercepted the attack mid-strike and Paul was surprised, though he hid it well, when Brick Break did not plough through the normal-type attack despite having a type advantage over it. Although the fact that Pikachu was visibly straining from japing up the attack was a good sign that it wasn't a complete stalemate.

"Iron Tail!" Ash continued on the offensive once he saw that Pikachu most probably could not have held the attack for much long. Pikachu, demonstrating his experience, let go of Feint and without missing a beat used his tail to jump into the air which not a fraction of second later gained a metallic sheen to it. The side effect of this particular action was Elekid stumbling forward due to the sudden lack of any kind of resistance from his opposition.

He did not get any time to regain his balance when Pikachu descended upon the Pokémon, and with a twirl struck Elekid with the Iron Tail attack, the force of the attack sending the Electric Pokémon several feet towards Ash's side of the makeshift battlefield.

"Get up Elekid!" Paul shouted as his Pokémon who was steadily getting back to his feet.

"Pikachu, Agility and once more Volt Tackle!" Ash commanded. Once again Pikachu felt his body lighten up before he dashed towards Elekid, chanting his name as the Mouse Pokémon was once again engulfed in the electric dome.

"Protect again!" Paul ordered the Pokémon who had barely gotten up from the previous attack, hoping that the defensive attack would form once again. As he got back to his feet, Elekid tried to muster up enough concentration to create the barrier to stop the incoming attack.

He had barely formed a luminescent shield like structure when Pikachu struck true. The hastily created shield had stopped the attack for barely a fraction of a second before it cracked under the pressure of the assault before completely shattering as Pikachu collided with Elekid.

"KID!" Elekid shouted as pain coursed through his body even as the momentum of the attack made him sail even further towards Ash. The trainer was surprised though when he saw the Pokémon once again get back up even if it was barely.

"Iron Tail Pikachu, let's end this!" Ash commanded. He had not even finished his command when Pikachu dashed towards Elekid before jumping up into the air just before reaching the Pokémon. His tail once again gained the metallic sheen as it descended upon the Electric Pokémon.

"Brick Break, deflect it!" Paul ordered his Pokémon, desperation visible in his shout. Gritting his teeth Elekid cocked his arm back even as it started shining brightly. The hand shot forward and stopped the Iron Tail mid-strike as once again the two Pokémon tried to overpower each other with their attacks.

"Power-Up Punch from your other arm!" Paul added not waiting another second, much to the surprise of everyone present. Ash did not have any time when Elekid struck Pikachu, the vulnerable position too close for him to dodge. Pikachu cried out in pain even as the weak fighting-type attack struck his abdomen, missing the slight reddish glow that ran through Elekid's body.

"Get out of there Pikachu!" Ash, however, had seen the secondary effect of the Power-Up Punch take place and reacted as quickly as possible. Before Pikachu could cancel his attack and get away from Elekid, the Pokémon once again struck with his left arm, the force of the attack greater than the one that had struck not one moment ago. That one punch was followed by another and then another until Elekid had struck Pikachu half a dozen times, the power increasing every second punch.

The pain made the Mouse Pokémon lose his concentration making the metallic glow on his tail fizzle away. Unfortunately for him, Elekid had not let go of his Brick Break, which took advantage of any lack of resistance plowed through and struck Pikachu.

The previous Screech had already made the Mouse Pokémon more vulnerable to physical attacks. On top of that, the increase in attacking power that Elekid had gained from the Power-Up Punch had added onto the Brick Break. The result of that was Pikachu being skipped across the field like a flung stone, tumbling end over end even as he tried to gain a foothold to prevent the action.

"Thunderbolt, don't let it get up!" Paul continued on with the assault, wanting to press on the advantage now that he had gained some momentum. Elekid immediately followed the command as he rotated his arms to generate the right amount of power for his attack.

"Use Iron Tail to stop yourself and follow it up with Dig!" Ash countered, even as he was inwardly bristling in anger as Paul referred to his partner as 'it'.

Pikachu's tail once more gained the metallic sheen to them before he stabbed it into the ground in order to balance himself just before the bolt of lightning struck closed in on him. Not a second later the attack struck, kicking up dust that covered the area near Pikachu.

Elekid poured even more energy into the attack, wanting to be sure that the attack had struck true. After keeping it up for a few more seconds, he finally let go even as he waited in for any additional command from his trainer.

"Be focused Elekid, Pikachu is most likely underground. Try to feel him out." Paul commanded, having seen the Pokémon ground itself using Iron Tail, something he found was a good use of the attack. Giving an imperceptible nod, Elekid closed his eyes and focused his attention towards the ground, trying to feel the vibrations from the ground created by Pikachu's movement.

That however proved to be another mistake on Elekid's part when Pikachu burst through the field not few feet in front of him not a second later. Elekid's eyes widened in reflex letting some of the dust enter his eyes obscuring his eyesight.

"Pikachu," Ash smirked as his tone once again regained the calmness and composure that he had before the beginning of the particular match. "Finish him off. Return!"

Had Elekid been able to see properly, he would have balked at the smirk that adorned Pikachu's face. As it was, the only one who was unable to do so apart from the Electric Pokémon was his trainer, who was at that moment looking at Pikachu's back.

"Block from front!" Paul commanded, gritting his teeth at the small advantage that his opponent's Pokémon had gained. Inwardly, he had scoffed when he had heard his opponent give the command. _'As though the weak attack can finish Elekid off,'_ he thought.

Elekid had barely crossed his arms to block the attack when Pikachu barreled into him, the force of the attack not only breaking the block but also pushing the electric-type several feet back. Even then he was unprepared when Pikachu barreled into him again and again and again until the number of strikes became nearly impossible to count. The area around the Pokémon was covered in the ensuing dust that kicked up, blocking the view of everyone present.

The dust cloud started settling down as the people, the trainers in particular and the remaining in general, waited with a dying breath for the result of the last attack as anticipation grew enough that it would have been possible to cut through with a knife.

Movement from the nearly diminished dust caught their attention as Pikachu walked out and once again faced towards the trainer, his body riddled with bruises and the mild electric burn that singed his yellow body. What made Paul narrow his eyes was the smirk that the Mouse Pokémon had on his face.

He cursed inwardly when he saw an identical smile adorn his opponent's face and the reason for that became visible to him when the dust finally settled not a few seconds later. Elekid was down, with bruises all across his body and a swirl in place of his eyes.

"Elekid is unable to battle. The winner of this round is Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu." Daisy's voice rang through the clearing.

Victorious, Pikachu ran towards his trainer and jumped towards him, letting Ash break the jump by picking him up in a quick hug.

"Great job bud." Ash congratulated his Pokémon enthusiastically. "Now why don't you go and rest beside Professor Rowan." Settling him down, he then rummaged through his backpack and took out a Hyper Potion. "And take this as well. Ask Professor if he could apply it on you. Think you can manage that bud?"

"Pi Pika Chu!" Pikachu replied with a smile and a thumbs up before he took the Hyper Potion and ran towards the group standing outside the makeshift field. Ash smiled before turning around and once again facing his opponent, his smile widening at the squeal from Dawn – he knew this was about to happen, no matter how powerful Pikachu became he would still be one of the more 'cute' Pokémon even if his partner vehemently denied being called cute.

XxX

 _A few moments ago_

"Wow," Dawn exclaimed as the match ended. "That was one powerful move."

"A move that you will rarely see trainers use," Rowan commented, his attention fixed on the trainer-Pokémon pair.

"Why?" Dawn asked, befuddlement evident in her voice. "If the attack is so powerful, shouldn't more trainers use it?"

"Return," the Professor began in a tone which Dawn had labelled as his teaching voice, "is one of the moves that has a wide range of damage that it can cause. Its power depends not on the inherent power that Pokémon possess but on the bond between trainer and Pokémon. The stronger the bond between the pair, the more the Pokémon gains energy for the attack. If, for example, you had taught Piplup this move when you first met him I doubt it would have resulted in more than one hit and that too would have been not too strong. And it is for this reason that trainers tend to avoid teaching their Pokémon this move."

"Most of them, while having a strong bond with their Pokémon, don't have a bond strong enough that it may deem useful for battle. That is why only those who have had their Pokémon with them for years tend to teach their Pokémon this move and even then it is rare among them. Similar is the case for Coordinators. If your bond is extremely strong with your Pokémon, it will result in numerous hits that impresses the judges immensely."

"But I could barely count the number of times that Pikachu struck Elekid so that must mean…" Dawn trailed off, her eyes wide-something she noticed was happening a lot today.

"That the bond between Pikachu and Ash is extremely strong and nigh unbreakable," Rowan finished her sentence when he saw Pikachu run towards them, the Hyper Potion in his mouth. "Congratulations on the victory Pikachu. That was a good match."

Pikachu sat up on his hind limbs while he presented the Hyper Potion to the Pokémon Professor.

"You want me to heal you with this?" Rowan asked rhetorically even as he took the Potion.

"Pikachu!" the Mouse Pokémon nodded bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck subconsciously. Seeing the small Pokémon act in such comportment was way too much for Dawn, who in the next second squealed at the apparent cuteness of the act and grabbed the Pokémon in a tight hug mindful of the injuries that he had sustained.

Surprised by the sudden hug Pikachu tried to escape before the similitude of the situation dawned upon him and he let out a sigh. Apparently this young trainer thought of him as cute just like a large number of females that he had met while traveling with his partner. He just knew that he was going to be ribbed by Ash and the rest of the friends when they found out about this. This was perhaps the one thing he despised about not evolving. He wasn't supposed to be cute. He was supposed to be powerful and a badass who had faced numerous Legendries.

Though the way the pretty girl was hugging him was an experience that he enjoyed as well. Don't judge him. Just because he is a Pokémon didn't mean that he cannot enjoy being a male. He therefore simply relaxed into the hug while the Professor restored his health.

He was still slightly miffed that Quilava was lounging near Daisy though, having grown to like the Researcher in the time that she had spent with the team.

XxX

"Will the trainers please bring out their next Pokémon?" Daisy instructed the two trainers, even as Paul recalled Elekid without uttering another word and enlarged his next Pokéball. The action was copied by Ash who, rather than taunt his opponent simply decided to carry on with the proceedings.

The Pokéballs once again erupted as the Pokémon materialized in a white flash of light.

Ash's Pokémon was a quadruped, bovine Pokémon. Covered in light brown fur with a thick, darker brown mane around the neck, it had a rounded muzzle with a dark brown nose, and three gray bumps running vertically down its forehead. A pair of curved, gray horns grew from atop its head while each of its three black tails had a tuft of fur on the end, and finally there was a single gray hoof on each foot.

Paul's Pokémon was a bipedal, weasel like Pokémon with a pale gray body and several feathery areas. It had a bright red crown and collar made of wide feathers, and a single, thinner feather on each ear. The thickness and the length of the feather on its ear signifying that it was a male. It had two tail feathers and three claws on each paw with a yellow, oval marking in the center of its forehead. Its eyes were red with three eyelashes, and finally it had four fangs protruding from its upper jaw.

Seeing that no one among them was going to scan the Pokémon, Dawn decided to scan the both of them, having not seen the two before. She first pointed her Pokédex towards Paul's Pokémon.

 _ **Weavile, the Sharp Claw Pokémon. Weavile is the evolved form of Sneasel. Weavile live in cold regions, forming groups of four or five that hunt prey with impressive coordination.**_

Apparently that was the extent of information that her Pokédex was going to provide her. She then pointed it towards Ash's Pokémon.

 _ **Tauros, the Wild Bull Pokémon. This Pokémon is not satisfied unless it is rampaging at all times. If there is no opponent for Tauros to battle, it will charge at thick trees and knock them down to calm itself.**_

Dawn's attention was once again diverted towards the field when Tauros gave a loud and fierce moo followed by an aggressive stomp of his feet, his gaze never leaving Weavile's. Dawn was actually surprised when she saw Weavile almost take a step back, as though he was intimidated. She mentally smacked herself when she remembered about the ability Intimidate, one that she had read was fairly common among Pokémon. She diverted her attention back towards Daisy when she heard her give the command to begin the match.

"Swords Dance!" Paul ordered his Pokémon immediately after the battle began. Weavile's claws glowed purple while simultaneously growing longer. He then swung them around as his body glowed red for a moment before subsiding.

"Slash!" Paul added without a forethought. Ash's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the Pokémon dash towards Tauros at a speed that he had rarely seen from the species, the Pokémon's claws extending by several inches and gaining a purplish hue.

"Use Stone Edge to stop it!" Ash commanded, knowing that the empowered Pokémon could seriously hurt Tauros. Stomping his front legs, Tauros let out a bellow as two white rings of energy surrounded the Pokémon, intersecting each other in front of his face. Not a second later, the rings shined brightly before turning into chunks of gray stones that surrounded Tauros. Tauros' eyes glowed with a brownish tint before the floating rocks shot towards the incoming Weavile.

In a show of acrobatics that surprised everyone except his trainer, Weavile dodged each rock that shot at him. He ducked under two of the projectile rocks before jumping over two more without losing any of his previous speed. Within a few seconds, and far too soon for Ash, Weavile was upon Tauros.

"Horn Attack, don't let him hit you Tauros!" Ash called out.

Tauros once again gave a loud bellow before he ran towards the incoming Weavile, his head ducked low as his horns shined brightly, and gained several inches as the attack took effect.

"Now Double Team!" Ash added and suddenly, in place of one Tauros there were now more than a dozen rampaging towards the Weavile like a berserk herd. Ash was almost certain that the attack would hit and was therefore surprised when Paul gave the next command.

"Feint Attack!" Weavile, who by now had almost reached the oncoming herd, suddenly vanished from both the trainers' sight and before Ash even got the chance to yell out a command, struck the real Tauros in the herd from his side. The Slash attack, already powered up by Swords Dance, was further enhanced by the Feint Attack made Tauros cry out in pain. This in turn led to the dispelling of the images that Tauros had created from Double Team.

"Payback!" Ash immediately went on the attack. Tauros, who had been pushed a few feet away by the previous attack, righted himself before launching at Weavile, his eyes having gained a purplish hue.

The abruptness of the attack and the lack of distance between the two Pokémon made it nearly impossible for Weavile to get out of the way as Tauros barreled into him. Despite not having gained momentum, the force that Tauros generated from the attack was enough that it sent Weavile barreling towards its trainer.

Ash knew that the Dark-type attack had not affected Weavile as much as he wanted, and this was proven to be true when the Pokémon stopped himself by ramming his claw into the ground to break the momentum and balance himself. Ash was surprised though when he saw that Weavile had minimal damage, something which irked him not that he was going to show it.

"Ice Shard!"

Ash cursed himself for his brief lapse in attention as Weavile, once again showing how well he had been trained, took no time to surround himself with multiple shards of ice. Not even a second had passed when his body gained a faint outline and the suspended shards shot towards Tauros.

"Stone Edge! Destroy them!" Ash countered, knowing that while Tauros was fast, he was only so in a straight line and hence was not agile enough to dodge them all. Once again charged up, Tauros was about to send the suspended stones hurling towards Weavile when the said Pokémon's attack struck Tauros.

Out of the nearly dozen Ice Shards only five or six had struck Tauros, the normally weak attack having been boosted by the Swords Dance, when Tauros retaliated with his attack. The stone shards shot towards the remaining ice shards destroying them before continuing towards Weavile.

"Earthquake!" Ash added before Paul could command his Pokémon. Tauros, not missing a beat, raised his front legs before bringing them down hard. Everyone present near the field felt the tremors of the attack as they struggled to not fall over. Weavile himself was trying in vain to gain back his balance even as the aftershock of the attack rushed towards him.

Paul narrowed his eyes when he saw that the aftershock had overtaken the Stone Edge.

"Jump over the Stone Edge!" he retaliated once he realized what his opponent was trying to do. Weavile jumped high into the air, and just in time as the aftershock reached where it was previously standing. This was immediately followed by the stone shards that collided with the ground.

"Tauros, Giga Impact!" Paul's attention was snapped towards Tauros as soon as the command was given. Giving a loud bellow, Tauros was immediately surrounded by an orange sphere of energy. That orange soon faded and turned into a purple aura surrounded by orange streaks of energy that spiraled around it.

Giving another bellow, Tauros now rushed towards Weavile who was now descending towards the ground.

"Ice Beam! Freeze its path!" Still midair, Weavile brought his arms in front of his body creating a bluish orb of energy. Light blue beams shot towards the incoming Tauros before striking the ground just ahead of him and freezing it. The force from the attack was enough that Weavile was pushed back into the air before it landed in front of his trainer as the attack finally dissipated.

"Jump on the ice!" Ash shouted in blind panic. He truly hated attacks like these and while he had fought and won in several ice fields, he had done so with his more experienced Pokémon or with those who had a genuine advantage over ice. His Tauros in general, and this one in particular, were still unused to fighting on such terrains.

Still encased in the energy from Giga Impact, Tauros barely had time to follow his trainer's command when he reached the newly frozen part of field. The momentum that he had gained from the run-up made him run straight into the ice field, the energy dome from Giga Impact shattering the ice. He was about to follow Ash's order when the frozen terrain took hold and he slipped, his energy encased body skidding uncontrollably across the icy field, this having the side-effect of dissipating the Giga Impact.

"Swords Dance once more and follow it up with Brick Break!" Paul commanded as soon as the Giga Impact had dissipated, starting the recharge period for the attack. As a result, Tauros could do nothing but watch as Weavile waved his arms around as his claws once again elongated and gained a purplish sheen. Weavile then jumped towards Tauros, one of his elongated claws shining brightly.

"Use Iron Tail to block the attack!" Ash countered as soon as he realized that the recharge period was over. Tauros, who still had his eyes on an airborne Weavile, swung his tails at the inbound Pokémon as the metallic sheen over the three tails showed a successful attack.

"Metal Claw from the other hand! Block it!" Paul's command rang through the clearing, taking everyone by surprise. Weavile's unused hand gained a similar metallic sheen to them as the attack collided with the Iron Tail and Ash watched with a small amount of awe at the way Weavile's attack stuck at the stalemate. He was alarmed when he realized that Weavile still held the Brick Break on its other hand. He was further alarmed when he saw the claw elongated even further, signifying an increase in the attacking power.

"Deflect and carry on with Brick Break!" Paul commanded in a much more calm and controlled manner. Weavile, still in a deadlock with Tauros, pushed further into the attack and deflected it. Moving forward on the ice in a manner that showed his ease with the terrain, he then clocked his arm back before striking the Wild Bull Pokémon with the empowered attack.

"Tauros!" Ash shouted in worry as his Pokémon let forth a bellow of pain as it was shot across the field, before eventually coming to a stop a few feet in front of his trainer.

"You alright bud?" he asked once he saw his Pokémon slowly get back up and shake off the attack. He was not surprised when Tauros gave a loud moo before shaking his head and then glaring back at Weavile. He knew that Tauros, his Tauros especially, were a proud race and would not back down from a challenge until they either win or lose. He could, however, see that the previous attack had caused way more damage than it should have.

The power that Weavile had enhanced with the two Swords Dance had been further amplified by the Metal Claw, he realized. And now he knew that he was in a big bind. The field was still encased with ice meaning that he would not be able to utilize Tauros' main strength, which is his rampaging power. Moreover, from the way Weavile was able to deflect his Iron Tail with a simple Metal Claw meant that he had the advantage in raw power, something he didn't think was going to happen with Tauros before this particular match.

He knew that his options were very limited. He had just the one long range attack, something that he decided he was going to rectify for his entire herd. And while he did have another strategy that could help turn the tides in this match, he was unwilling to use it so quickly and that too in a match that was not too important in the larger turn of events.

A few seconds had passed in introspection when he realized that Weavile had not attacked Tauros further. He turned his gaze towards his opponents', only to find that god-be-damned smirk that made him want to punch the asshole's face. And yes, he would categorize this person as an asshole.

He had met many arrogant people throughout his travels yet he could easily say that none of them could pull off the condescending look that the person standing opposite of him was wearing on his face. And that was simply on the basis that he knew that he had Ash trapped and instead of carrying on with his offensive was waiting for Ash to simply forfeit.

"I think it would be best if we forfeited Tauros," Ash commented, getting a surprised and hurt look from his Pokémon. He immediately continued on to rectify that, "Don't worry bud, it is not that I am unsure that we can win it. I know we can but feel that it is unnecessary to bring out our trump for a simple battle like this. You know that I am not doubting your skills but I think it would be better if we didn't continue with this match. You alright with that?"

Tauros still looked a bit conflicted, his pride wanting him to continue with the battle and squash the opponent who had dared to attack him, but he knew that his trainer had better control of his instincts and knew how to utilize his skills.

"If you want to continue, we can do so Tauros," Ash interjected his thoughts. "If you want to fight more, we will do so and I can promise you we can still win this."

And that was enough for Tauros to make a decision. He knew that they would win if he continued but was it worth using their trump? No, it wasn't.

Turning his head towards Ash, he shook it indicating that he would forfeit the battle no matter how much his pride demanded that he continue.

"Don't worry bud," Ash smiled at his Pokémon, happy to see that he had come along so far that he could let go of his pride so easily. He then turned towards Daisy, who was looking towards Ash in incredulity. "I would like to forfeit this battle."

"Due to a forfeit, the winner of this round is Paul and his Weavile." With the final declaration, Tauros trudged towards Ash who ran his hand through the Wild Bull Pokémon's fur.

"You did great out there Tauros, especially seeing that it is your first battle don't you think?" Ash consoled his Pokémon, getting a sad nod from him. "Now don't be like that bud. You know we won't win every battle we come across but that doesn't mean that we cannot learn from this. We have found many things that we can improve upon and I know that I will implement the changes on the entire herd. We're just lucky that this happened in a minor battle like this instead of somewhere important. Don't you think so?"

"MOO!" Tauros nodded energetically, finally seeing his trainer's point of view. Ash smiled in return, happy that his Pokémon was not going to sulk over a simple defeat. Giving him a once over, he rummaged through his backpack and took out a Super Potion before placing it in Tauros' mouth.

"Why don't you go to Professor and ask him to heal you?" he directed the Pokémon towards the Professor. Tauros was about to run in that direction at his usual rampaging speed when Ash continued. "And go slowly. The girl with him is a new trainer and I don't want you to scare her."

Nodding in reply Tauros ambled towards the duo even as Ash turned back towards his opponents, who was looking at him once again in a cool, detached manner. He had already called back Weavile without another word and was waiting for Ash to get back in the match.

XxX

"Professor?" Dawn once again turned towards Rowan, not comprehending why Ash would forfeit even though his Tauros had taken very few hits.

"The Tauros species, as their body suggests, is known for their imposing attacking power. They usually just annihilate their opponent with that strength. In this battle however, Tauros was up against Weavile, who despite his stature is nearly as strong as Tauros. On top of that Paul augmented his Weavile's attacking power by using Dance which given an immense boost to that attacking power. The result of that was visible when Weavile's Metal Claw, which is one of the weaker Steel-type attacks, was able to stop Iron Tail, one of the stronger Steel-type attacks. On top of that, I don't know whether you noticed or not, the Metal Claw increased the already increased the attacking power even further."

"As a result Ash was now facing a Pokémon that was significantly stronger than his Tauros, something that I think has rarely happened with him. Another thing that caused Ash to be at a disadvantage was the fact that the terrain on Paul's end is frozen. And while it seems that Ash has taken such things into consideration and trained his Pokémon, Tauros looked like he was not too comfortable with it. And since most of Tauros' attacks require contact, he would have to either go to Weavile or bring him towards his end, something that Paul would have prevented no matter what happened."

"So Ash forfeited," Dawn muttered finally realizing how deep the match had gone, "because he knew that his chances of winning were quite less and therefore did not want to cause any more harm to his Pokémon."

'That and much more,' Rowan added mentally. Throughout the battle, he had a slight suspicion, not that he was going to reveal them. It was smart of both the boys, but that was expected of the both of them. In the future, Dawn may reach their level and then would see what he was suspecting, but that was way into the future. Now, he was going to focus on the final battle as he knew that this was going to be the best show that these two talented trainers were going to put.

He held back a smile when he saw a rather disgruntled Tauros run towards them in what would have been a trod in Oak's Ranch but was just a step short of a full on rampage for anyone else. He did let a ghost of a smile form on his face when Dawn stepped back with a frightened squeal as Tauros reached the duo and placed the Super Potion at the feet of the Pokémon Professor, a slight inquisitive look on his face.

Rowan chuckled as he picked the spray and applied it over the visible wounds and bruises on the Pokémon's body, getting no reaction from the Pokémon. Having expected that from the prideful Pokémon, he continued with his treatment. Once he was sure that he had healed all the visible and the few invisible ones, he gave the Pokémon a small nod.

Tauros took a couple of steps and gave an appreciative nod once he realized that all of his wounds had been healed properly, before he turned his attention towards Pikachu, who was now being held in a bear grip as Dawn tried to take comfort from his presence. Somehow extricating himself from the hold he took a couple of gulps of air before positioning himself on the girl's shoulder and started talking to the Wild Bull Pokémon, the topic of the conversation eluding everyone present.

XxX

A thick feeling of excitement and anticipation hung in the air as both the trainers present on the field fiddled with a shrunken Pokéball on their hands, ready to release the power of the creatures that were held within. Daisy's voice once again ran through the clearing, breaking the aforementioned feeling.

"Will both the trainers send out their final Pokémon?"

"Go Pidgeot/Go Pokéballs!" both the trainers called out concurrently, although everyone was surprised when Ash called out the name of the Pokémon rather than keep it a secret, something which he had done for the previous battles, except for the one time he called Pikachu.

Paul's chosen Pokémon was a bulky, quadruped Pokémon with a large shell covering its back. There was a single, oak -like tree and three triangular, stony extensions resembling mountain peaks on the top of the shell and a patch of brown, resembling soil, next to the tree. A white rim surrounded the shell, and formed a diamond- shaped continuation on the front. The Pokémon's body appears sectioned, with the upper half being green and the lower half brown. Its mouth was jagged and at the end of its snout is a dark brown beak. Its lower jaw was green with two large spikes protruding from its cheeks. Its small, red eyes are encircled by a black ring while its legs were thick, having four toes each, which appeared as if they were actually jagged stones.

Pidgeot, on the other hand, was an avian Pokémon with large wings, sharp talons, and a short, hooked beak. Its  
glossy plumage was mostly brown with cream-colored underparts and flight feathers. Its head was decorated with a crest that was nearly as long as its body. The center feathers of its crest were yellow, while the outer feathers were red, its fanlike tail feathers bearing the same color. Its beak and legs were pink with three forward-facing toes and one backward facing toe on each foot. Finally there was an angular black marking behind each of its eyes.

Not knowing about the new Pokémon, Ash turned his Pokédex towards it.

 _ **Torterra, the Continent Pokémon. Torterra is the final evolved form of Turtwig. Small Pokémon occasionally gather on its unmoving back to begin building their nests.**_

XxX

Meanwhile, Dawn was scanning Pidgeot, having not seen the Kanto and Johto native before.

 _ **Pidgeot, the Bird Pokémon. Pidgeot is the final evolved form of Pidgey. This Pokémon has a dazzling plumage of beautifully glossy feathers. Many Trainers are captivated by the striking beauty of the feathers on its head, compelling them to choose Pidgeot as their Pokémon. It spreads its gorgeous wings widely to intimidate enemies. It races through the skies at Mach 2 speed.**_

"Both the Pokémon are fine examples of their species," Rowan commented offhandedly, getting an excited nod from the girl standing beside him. Even she could see the strength rolling off the two Pokémon, Pidgeot with its majestic beauty while Torterra stood large, firm mien easily justifying its name as the Continent Pokémon.

"The impressive length of Pidgeot's crest along with her unusually tall body show an impressive growth," he continued, unheeding of his company. "Nice plumage and wide wingspan shows constant flying. All in all, a brilliant Pokémon. It also seems that Paul has been busy with the training of his Pokémon. Torterra is larger than the last time I saw him. The tree on his back is larger and the rocks much more defined. Both of them, in my opinion, are excellent Pokémon I think this battle will be the most interesting one."

"Pika chu!" the Mouse Pokémon exclaimed from his position, the affronted look on his face getting an amused smile on the Professor.

"You know what I mean Pikachu," Rowan reasoned with the Pokémon. "The first two battles were highly in the favor of Ash. Power-wise he had easily beaten both Chimchar and Elekid. Whereas the next battle was one of strategy and outmaneuvering one another, especially given the fact that Ash used one of his Tauros which I can guess he has rarely used before. This battle has Pokémon that are not only powerful but have enough experience to use that strength efficiently."

Dawn nodded distractedly, her gaze completely focused on the two Pokémon standing, airborne in the case of Pidgeot, in front of her. It was as she stood so close to them that she understood the difference between watching powerful Pokémon on television and seeing them in person. It showed how much she had to grow and how much she had to work if she wanted to reach their level and surpass them.

However, that was for the future. Now, she could not wait to see these two fight each other.

XxX

"Daisy?" Ash diverted his attention and turned towards the impromptu referee, "do you think you could release Starly for this match?" Seeing her cocked eyebrow, he elaborated, "I want him to see the match and get a proper feel of how our future matches can be."

"Do you have any objections with that Paul?" Daisy asked his opponent, getting no visible reaction from the purple-haired trainer. Ash didn't think he had met someone with this kind of control over his/her emotions, and he meant that in a poor fashion. The way his emotions fluctuated from arrogance to aloofness to visibly nothing made him think whether the person standing in front of him was bipolar or something like that.

"It is agreeable." His opponent replied after a minute of deliberation, something which seemed to annoy even Daisy, who Ash knew was not that easy to aggravate.

Remembering which Pokéball carried the Pokémon, she released Starly who appeared with a shrill chirp before landing in front of her, looking in a confused manner. His attention then turned towards Pidgeot and his eyes visibly widened as he recognized the leader of a flock, not that he was going to act all demure in front of her. He had been a free bird before and despite being bound to a trainer now he was not going to get out of that habit. He did understand the power that she held and would obey her until he grew strong enough.

He gave a shrill cry, one that sounded very much like a challenge to Ash, and received an amused reply from the hovering Pokémon. He looked like he was going to reply but was stopped by his trainer's voice.

"You can challenge her after the match Starly." Ash spoke out loud, catching Starly's attention, a wide smile on his face. He was happy to see Starly already forming a bond with Pidgeot, even if it was of friendly rivalry. He could guess the reason for this, now that he had studied about the different types of Pokémon.

From what the Pokédex had informed him, Starly travelled in a flock, similar to Pidgey. And just like the flocks of Pidgey which were usually led by a Pidgeotto, occasionally a Pidgeot, the flock of Starly must be led by an evolved member of their species. Starly, from the small amount of time that he had observed, was a defiant Pokémon and would easily recognize one flock leader and would want to show that he was, or could become, better than Pidgeot. Nevertheless, he knew that he could use this as an opportunity to help Starly grow further.

"Starly," he began, annexing the small Pokémon's attention. "I want you to just stand back and observe this match and you can see how I like to fight with Flying-type Pokémon. Later on you can tell me if you'd like to learn some of the things that Pidgeot can do."

He had barely finished the statement before he was interrupted by an excited trill from Starly, who looked at him with a steely resolve.

"Good." Ash continued, happy with his thoughts being confirmed. This happiness was broken when his opponent decided to speak.

"Goes on to show what I thought about you was true." Paul scoffed. "You have to ask your Pokémon what it wants to learn instead of commanding it. Not like that would have helped this pathetic Starly."

"You know," Ash said after taking a few moments to calm himself down and not think about breaking his opponent's nose. "You really should think before you speak. If you think that Starly cannot become strong by my methods, then keep those thoughts to yourself. You say that Starly is pathetic. Then I promise you that the next time you see Starly, he will be among my strongest Pokémon."

"As if," Paul once again scoffed. "Now can we get started or do you want to continue this doleful exchange with your Pokémon?"

"Can you give the signal Daisy?" he asked the researcher, the frigidity in his voice making her shiver as she tried, and failed, to educe any memory of having seen him this angry before.

"Are both the trainers ready?" she inquired for the one last time, getting a nod from both the trainers. "Then begin!"

"Pidgeot, Tailwind into Aerial Ace!" Ash was the first to let out his command.

"Obstruct it with Stone Edge! Spread it out" Paul countered.

With a few flaps of her wings, Pidgeot rose higher into the sky. Once she was up several feet, she rotated mid-air after a particularly powerful push of her wings before shooting towards Torterra at a speed that surprised everyone present in the clearing, a white trail trailing at her rare.

In the meantime, Torterra had not been sitting indolently. Gathering energy far faster than Tauros, he surrounded himself with nearly two dozen suspended shards of rock which then shot towards the inbound projectile that was Pidgeot.

"Dodge those you can and crush the remaining with Steel Wing!" Ash replied, once he saw how widespread the attack was. He knew that he was taking a huge gamble with this strike, but was confident enough that his Pokémon would pull it off.

Not showing any surprise at the sudden command, Pidgeot concentrated for a few moments before her wings gained a metallic sheen to them. And just in time as several of the rock projectiles reached her. She, however, did not seem fazed for even a moment as she moved seamlessly through the field of rock shards. The ones that reached close enough were obliterated by her Steel Wing.

Seeing his attack not even faze the Flying-type, Paul decided to change strategy.

"Stone Edge once more! Surround yourself with it! Don't let the bird hit you!" He commanded. Torterra immediately responded by once more creating several shards of stone in front of him. But rather than making the shards fly towards the Pokémon, he simply let them float around him acting as a floating minefield.

Ash, although surprised by the skill required to control so many shards at once, was still alacritous enough to respond.

"Keep Steel Wing up and start rotating!"

In a display of skill that took everyone by surprise, Pidgeot tucked her wings inwardly and started rotating in a manner customarily akin to a Fearow using a Drill Peck or Drill Run. The movement increased the already high speed of the Pokémon's descent and she had already reached the outermost ring of rock projectiles that surrounded Torterra.

Something which Paul seemed to have anticipated. What he hadn't anticipated was the rotating Steel Wing to obliterate any rock shard that came too close to the Pokémon. It even looked like that the Pokémon was able to minimize the number of hits that it was taking by maneuvering through the minefield.

Then suddenly, Pidgeot vanished out of everybody's sight before a white blur struck Torterra from his side, the strength behind the attack pushing the Continent Pokémon several steps back despite his large frame. Torterra let out a bellow of pain as the Flying-type attack struck the Pokémon, dealing a massive amount of damage.

"Giga Drain!" Paul decided to make use of the Pidgeot's position and issued his command. Torterra, not paying attention to his pain, immediately followed his command. The stones on his back glowed before green colored barbs shot from them towards the retreating Pokémon.

"Use Agility to get out of there!" Ash immediately replied, not wanting Pidgeot to get struck by the attack. Even now he could see that the minefield was hindering Pidgeot in retreating immediately and wanted her to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Not even a second later, Pidgeot's body gained a subtle glow as she felt herself getting lighter. This in turn gave her even more control of her body letting her get through the minefield. Even then, without the protection provided by the Steel Wing a few of the shards did graze her by, getting her to let lose a short yet sharp cry of pain.

"Leaf Storm! Don't let it get away!" Paul commanded once he saw her get past the Rock Shard minefield. He knew that this attack would destroy the floating rocks but thought it to be worth getting a hit. He could always recreate it if he wanted. Right now he wanted to get some quick shots at the Bird Pokémon, who he knew was one of the fastest Pokémon across the regions whereas his Torterra…was not.

The leaves on the tree present on Torterra's back started glowing a faint green before a cyclone of wind and razor-sharp leaves shot towards Pidgeot, obliterating the Rock Shards in between, just like Paul knew would happen. Torterra had anticipated the flight path for Pidgeot in such a manner that the attack would go on to hit the Flying-type.

"Turn around and use Air Slash! And keep at it!" Ash countered, realizing the strategy that Paul was applying, one which he knew was common yet effective with a Pokémon with a constitution like that of Torterra.

Following his command, Pidgeot turned around mid-flight, her wings glowing a light blue. She waved them repeatedly, saw like energy blades emerging each time she flapped them. Each blade clashed with the incoming barrage of wind and leaves, destroying several of them before being trounced by the still incoming attack.

"Sunny Day and follow it up with Synthesis!" Paul commanded with a scowl once he saw Torterra's attack get slowly yet steadily get pushed back.

The tree on Torterra's back once more started glowing brightly before a beam of light was launched into the sky. Not a scant second later, the effect of the attack took place and the area got bathed in light to such an extent that most of them present had to shield their eyes from it. The attack had barely finished when Torterra's body got surrounded by light sparkles while his body started glowing, healing the minor bruises that had formed from the Aerial Ace much faster than Ash had anticipated. The sudden lack of the Leaf Storm however let several of the saw like wind blades to go on and strike right on Torterra, who let forth a grimace even as the wounds started to heal.

"No you won't." Ash retorted promptly. "Pidgeot, Hurricane!"

Letting forth a loud shout of her name Pidgeot flapped her wings, which had once again gained a bluish glow. A burst of wind shot towards Torterra, picking up a gigantic amount of dust as it closed in on the Continent Pokémon.

Torterra cried out in pain as the attack struck not a scant second later even as Pidgeot kept flapping her wings sending in burst after burst of the powerful wind eventually covering the entire area around Torterra. She only stopped once she realized that she was unable to see her target anymore, her experience forcing her to be on guard and wait for the cloud of dust to clear, something which Ash was more than happy to do.

"Solar Beam!"

Ash was therefore not surprised when a white beam of energy shot through the smoke not a second after the command was given, knowing that Sunny Day decreased the time required for forming the attack as well as increasing the power behind it.

"You know what to do Pidgeot." Ash replied calmly confusing everyone. With another shout of her name Pidgeot flew straight towards the incoming beam of light and was upon it not a scant second later. Then, much to the surprise of the spectators just as she was about to strike the beam heads on, she deviated from her path before she started revolving around the Solar Beam even as she made her way forward. In the meantime, the Solar Beam had cleared the dust cloud away, revealing Torterra who had several gashes across his body from Hurricane.

Struck speechless at the unorthodox evasive maneuver, Paul had little time to realize that Pidgeot had halved the distance between herself and Torterra and was closing in at an alarming pace. He was broken out of his surprise when Ash gave his next command.

"Brave Bird! Let's finish him!" Ash commanded swiftly, a command that was followed not a second later as Pidgeot pulled her wings closer to her body, the body then bursting into flames. The flames also had the side-effect of disrupting the Solar Beam.

"Frenzy Plant! Stop it!" Paul countered as he gritted his teeth. He could not believe how badly this match had gone for him. He had thought that he would win even though he had a type disadvantage. But now, now there was a chance that he would be not only defeated but humiliated as well. And that too from someone that reminded him of his brother.

Letting forth a loud bellow, Torterra raised his front limbs as his body gained a green aura of power before slamming them on the ground. Giant roots with spikes on them erupted in front of him before launching towards the incoming Pidgeot, who by now had spread her wings and was encased in blue flames.

"Got you." Ash smiled widely towards Paul before once more commanding Pidgeot. "Stop the attack Pidgeot and fly high into the air! Then finish him off with Sky Attack!"

Showing her skill in flying, Pidgeot stopped mid-air despite her momentum before shooting up into the in the blink of an eye, evading any roots that closed in on her, although the backlash from the attack made her wince inwardly, not that she was going to show it. She climber higher, forcing everyone to squint their eyes from the bright sunlight.

She stopped abruptly before performing a loop to turn around, her wings spread out wide as she collected the energy required for the attack. A few seconds later she nosedived, her wings now tucked closed towards her body and her focus completely on Torterra.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Paul kept muttering, his attention fixed on Torterra from the moment the attack had been ordered.

Having almost covered the distance between Torterra and herself, Pidgeot spread her wings out after which she was immediately surrounded by a white aura that left a trail as she sped straight towards her target. Just as she was about to strike Torterra head on, Paul's voice rang through the field.

"Solar Beam! Point blank!"

Showing that he had already recovered from using Frenzy Plant, Torterra shot the yellow beam from his mouth which struck the Bird Pokémon head on before either the Pokémon or trainer could get a chance to react. Pidgeot let a screech as pain coursed through her body before she collided with Torterra, her resolve not allowing her to let go of the attack.

Torterra himself let out a bellow as Pidgeot charged through the Solar Beam and struck him head on, the super effective attack dealing a massive amount of damage.

"Pidgeot!" Ash shouted in trepidation as a dust cloud surrounded the two Pokémon. His worry increased further when Pidgeot did not immediately emerge from the dust cloud. Both the trainers had their eyes fixed at the dust cloud, waiting for their respective Pokémon to appear. Even the spectators were watching with a baited breath, waiting for the dust to settle down.

They did not have to wait a few more seconds before a screech was heard not a second after which Pidgeot shot from the cloud, her body doing vertical rolls one after another until she reached a good ten feet above the ground at which point she extended her wings to stop her momentum.

"Pidgeot!" Ash exclaimed in happiness once he saw his Pokémon. That happiness soon turned into worry when he saw the various burns caused due to the last minute Solar Beam.

"You alright there girl?" he asked the Flying-type. "Think you can continue?"

"Pidgeot!" his Pokémon replied in a positive trill, even as she kept flapping her wings.

"Good, then blow the dust away will you?" he asked, hoping that he wouldn't have to continue. He didn't think that Pidgeot could take more of Torterra's attack especially if his opponent decided to attack physically. He could easily surmise that Torterra would be a disaster to fight if he started using his strength. He was also secretly thanking that most of the powerful Grass-type attacks were special attacks rather than physical attacks.

As Pidgeot flapped her wings to dissipate the dust, there was once again tension thick enough in the air that it could be cut through with a knife.

As the wind dissipated, the silhouette of the Continent Pokémon started becoming visible to the trainers. Much to the surprise of Ash and the spectators he appeared to be still standing. Unnoticed to everyone, Paul unclenched his fists as his worry dissipated along with the smoke.

Ash mentally commended the Pokémon for still standing. He knew that despite her constitution Pidgeot struck hard and he had seen the results of her attacks when he had trained with her in the Corral. Despite the few number of attacks, he knew that the attacks had struck hard. And for the Continent Pokémon to still stand after taking her most powerful attack meant that he truly was one nicely trained Pokémon.

Torterra, meanwhile, was glaring at Pidgeot in defiance, with Pidgeot narrowing her eyes back in reply. Ash could already see the rivalry forming between these two and he knew that this kind of rivalry would go on until one of them had truly bested the other.

Both Ash and Paul were about to give their next command when Torterra grunted before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he crashed forward, the force generated from the crash enough to misbalance everyone present. In the place of his eyes were swirls that signified one thing across the seven regions.

"Torterra is unable to battle. The winner of this round is Ash and Pidgeot and with the final score of three to one the winner of this match is Ash of Pallet Town." Daisy announced to the still stunned crowd, which was immediately followed by huge shouts of happiness from all of Ash's Pokémon, Dawn and even a nod from Professor Rowan.

Ash, conversely, was unfazed by this and simply ran towards Pidgeot who by now had descended to the ground and was taking very deep breaths, trying to stave off the damage caused to her. She barely had any time before she was engulfed by her trainer in a deep hug.

"Great job Pidgeot." Ash mumbled before detaching from the hug and giving her a huge smile. "You were brilliant out there. Even after all the practice that we had, I still thought that we would be unable to battle the way we used to. Guess those thoughts were for naught, weren't they?"

As a reply, Pidgeot simply rubbed her head against Ash's chest, happy that they had been able to complement each other just like the old days.

"Pika Pi!"

Pikachu's voice caught their attention, letting them see not only Pikachu but also Tauros and Quilava running towards them, the rest of the entourage following behind at a sedate pace. Ash, however, simply turned towards his opponent with the hope to commend him for a good fight. He was therefore surprised and additionally not too surprised when he saw Paul making his way to the exit, having already recalled Torterra.

"I guess we will meet another time." He told no one in particular before turning back to greet the people who were making their way towards him. He knew that he had made a rival who would stop at nothing to defeat him. It wasn't like it was going to matter to him. He had come to win the Sinnoh league and he wouldn't be sidetracked by things like these.

Now was time to celebrate his first victory in the Sinnoh Region.

* * *

 **I would like to sincerely apologize to everyone for the lack of updates, replies to any of the reviews and the PMs. Rather than give you all an excuse for this, I would like to simply inform you all that I will try to keep up with my updates as much as possible and see that they do not take too long and still be of good quality.**

 **Another notice that I would like to state is that I have decided to abandon my Naruto fic, mostly due to the fact that I now do not find my story to be any different from numerous fics present in this website. Should I come across any challenge that I find is original enough and has my attention, I will write it. There are numerous super powered Naruto fics on this website and I don't want my fic to be just one among them.**

 **So, as of today I am only going to concentrate on this fic. Which means quicker updates!**

 **I would sincerely like to apologize to anyone who has either followed/favorite that fic.**

 **Anyhow, this was the fight that everyone was waiting for. Tell me how you guys found this and whether it was to your expectations. Another thing that I would like to say is that from the next chapter onwards I will not describe any Pokémon, be it Ash's or anyone else's, simply because of the fact that I find that to be redundant. A writer cannot simply describe a Pokémon. The reader either knows how the Pokémon looks or they go and search the web for the Pokémon.**

 **So, there you have it. The new chapter along with a good/bad news.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed it.**

 **Keep reviewing!**

 **Ja Ne!**


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